TORONTO, June 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX:GCM) announced today that it produced a total of 18,675 ounces of gold in May bringing the total for the first five months of 2018 to 87,465 ounces, up 27% compared to the first five months of 2017. This brings the Company's trailing 12-months' total gold production to 192,461 ounces, up 11% from 2017's annual production of 173,821 ounces and near the top end of the Company's production guidance for 2018 of between 182,000 and 193,000 ounces.
Serafino Iacono, Executive Co-Chairman of Gran Colombia, commented, "Continuing focus on our high-grade Segovia Operations is driving our production growth as expected and we are pleased to see that we are trending toward a total of 200,000 ounces of gold for 2018."
At the Segovia Operations, gold production in May amounted to 16,654 ounces, bringing the total for the first five months of 2018 to 77,456 ounces, up 32% compared to the first five months of 2017. This brings the Company's trailing 12-months' total gold production from Segovia to 167,362 ounces, up 13% from 2017 fuelled by continuing growth in the Company's mines which represented 95% of the trailing 12-months' production. The Company has processed an average of 960 tonnes per day ("tpd") in the first five months of 2018 with an overall average head grade of 16.7 g/t, continuing to benefit from high-grade production from its Providencia mine. The Segovia Operations' annual gold production is trending toward 175,000 ounces for 2018, above the top end of its 2018 production guidance of 167,000 ounces.
The Company's Marmato mine remained steady, producing 2,021 ounces of gold in May, bringing the total for the first five months of 2018 to 10,009 ounces compared with 10,072 ounces in the first five months of 2017. This brings the trailing 12-months' total gold production at the end of May to 25,099 ounces, on par with 2017's annual production and within the Company's guidance range for 2018 of between 24,000 and 26,000 ounces.
The Company also confirmed today that it deposited 1,294 ounces of gold from May's production, as required under the new 2024 gold-linked notes, into a gold trust account. The Company has established the gold trust account with a Canadian-based financial institution rather than Banque Pictet & Cie SA as originally contemplated in the Trust Indenture dated as of April 30, 2018.
Gran Colombia is a Canadian-based gold and silver exploration, development and production company with its primary focus in Colombia. Gran Colombia is currently the largest underground gold and silver producer in Colombia with several underground mines in operation at its Segovia and Marmato Operations. Gran Colombia is continuing to focus on exploration, expansion and modernization activities at its high-grade Segovia Operations.
Additional information on Gran Colombia can be found on its website at www.grancolombiagold.com and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.