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Amerigo resumes normal copper production in Chile, revises guidance for Q3 2023

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(Kitco News) - Chile-focused copper producer Amerigo Resources (TSX: ARG) (OTCQX: ARREF) announced Thursday that Minera Valle Central (MVC) has resumed normal production after completing the removal of more than 2.2 million cubic meters of water from the Cauquenes historical tailings deposit.

The company said in a press release that the excess water accumulated at Cauquenes following heavy and sustained rainfall in the region from August 19 to September 10.

Amerigo added that to expedite the resumption of normal operations at Cauquenes, pumping equipment was diverted to remove water from Cauquenes rather than provide historic tailings to the concentrator. During this time, MVC continued to process fresh tailings from El Teniente.

The annual rainfall in 2023 at MVC is estimated to be more than 695 mm. This figure is approximately 160% more than the yearly precipitation totals of 287 mm in 2022 and 247 mm in 2021. As of the date of this news release, there is no heavy rainfall in the forecast, the company said.

Amerigo now estimates that MVC’s copper production in Q3 2023 will be approximately 11.1 million pounds, which is 2.7 million pounds lower than the company’s revised copper production guidance of 13.8 million pounds issued after MVC was impacted by flooding in the region in June 2023.

“After more than three years of exceeding production guidance, this is unquestionably an anomalous production period for Amerigo,” said president and CEO Aurora Davidson. “However, operations are now back to normal, and all members of the Amerigo and MVC teams are working at full capacity to exceed our Q4 2023 copper production guidance of 16.6 million pounds.”

Amerigo Resources is an innovative copper producer with a long-term relationship with Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer. Amerigo produces copper concentrate, and molybdenum concentrate as a by-product at the MVC operation in Chile by processing fresh and historic tailings from Codelco’s El Teniente mine, the world's largest underground copper mine.

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By

Vladimir Basov

For Kitco News

Contact vbasov@kitco.com
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