Equinox Gold (Toronto Stock Exchange: EQX; New York Stock Exchange: EQX) produced a record 602100 ounces of gold in 2021, easily meeting the target and delivering 26% more ounces than in 2020. All maintenance costs are also expected to be within the guidance range of $1300 to $1375 per ounce.
The largest production mine in the company's portfolio is the Los Filos mine in Mexico (144100 ounces). The community blockade of the mine was resolved in early August, giving the mine five months of uninterrupted time to not only catch up with but also exceed production guidance.
The second and third largest mine is Mexico's Mesquite (137500 ounces), which surpasses Brazil's Aurizona (135000 ounces).
Equinox has several smaller mines, Fazenda (60400 oz) and Riacho dos Machados (58800 oz), all in Brazil.
Production at the Mercedes mine in Mexico (31800 ounces) includes only production following the acquisition of Premier Gold, which ended in April 2021. Mercedes will be sold to Bear Creek Mining (Toronto Stock Exchange: BCM).
The Castle Mountain mine in California produced 25300 ounces of gold, while the Pilar mine produced 9344 ounces in the first four months of 2021 before being sold to a private Canadian company.
The acquisition of Premier Gold in April gave Equinox 60 per cent ownership of the Greenstone project in northern Ontario (with 40 per cent of its partner Orion Mine Finance Group).
Equinox officially began construction of the C $1.5 billion gold mine in October, which could become one of the largest in Canada, producing 400000 ounces a year. The first batch of gold is targeted for pouring in the first half of 2024.
Equinox released its first ESG report last year, pointing out that safety records are 17 per cent better and the environment is 60 per cent better than a year ago.
