• The donation of food by Gran Colombia for 7,000 families in Segovia, Remedios and the Antioquia communities.
• The donation of food by Caldas Gold for 5,000 families in Marmato, Supia and Riosucio;
• The provision of medical and hospital supplies which will serve to improve contingency care for COVID-19 in the hospitals in Segovia, Remedios and Yolombo in the department of Antioquia as well as in the Municipality of Marmato;
• Gran Colombia has joined the Protect the Wonderful Gift of Life campaign at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and the Clinica Universitaria Bolivariana to donate beds and biomedical equipment for the implementation of six intensive care units;
• The supply of over 200,000 liters of water through tank truck service to the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Segovia and Remedios; and
• The supply of 3,000 kits including face masks, liquid soap and antibacterial gel to security forces, formalized miners, vulnerable families and the city halls of the municipalities of Segovia, Remedios and Marmato.

Gran Colombia and Caldas have committed to continue to monitor developments in the situation and revise its response plans accordingly.

Above photo: Riosucio, Caldas, Colombia by De DaGuerraM – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0

Assuming exercise of the 7,500,000 Caldas Gold share purchase warrants at CA$3.00 per share owned by the Company, Gran Colombia would have control and direction over 45,045,200 common shares representing approximately 77.7% of the then outstanding common shares of Caldas.

Grand Colombia has activated its business continuity program in the face of the Coronavirus Pandemic

The mining firm also announced today that it is diligently monitoring the impact of the novel COVID-19 virus globally and has activated its business continuity program to help ensure that head office functions are maintained while employees work remotely and travel restrictions have been put into place. To date, COVID-19 has not impacted production or product shipments at any of the Company’s sites. Nor, to date, has there been any significant negative impact on Gran Colombia’s supply chain. Nonetheless, Gran Colombia is constantly monitoring the situation and is working with its critical suppliers, which the company understands have mitigation plans in place, to minimize any potential supply chain disruptions that might emerge.

Commenting on the situation, Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman of Gran Colombia, stated, “These are unprecedented times and the health and well-being of all of our employees and their families as well as those we work with in our various communities is of the utmost importance. As the markets have experienced tremendous upheaval over the last week, we have also received many inbound inquiries from our concerned investors. To the extent possible, recognizing current share prices are well below what we feel is a fair value, we are using our established normal course issuer bid to purchase our common shares in the market for cancellation. We have also been making purchases of common shares in Caldas Gold Corp. (“Caldas Gold”) to support our position in the Marmato Project.”

Gran Colombia will continue to monitor developments in the situation and revise its response plans accordingly.

Gran Colombia Gold stated that it will use a portion of the net proceeds of the private placement to redeem 30%, equivalent to $19,162,500 USD, of the aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 8.25% Senior Secured Gold-Linked Notes due 2024 (TSX: GCM.NT.U) on the redemption date of March 31, 2020 reducing the aggregate principal amount outstanding to $44,712,500 USD. The redemption price will be equal to 100% of the aggregate principal amount of the gold notes redeemed plus the applicable premium calculated in accordance with the provisions of the gold notes Indenture, currently estimated to be approximately 10%.

This represents an increase in the number of common shares held or controlled by Eric Sprott by 5.15% on a non-diluted basis and by 8.72% on a partially diluted basis.

Further details, including the actual amount of the applicable premium, will be announced later in March as it gets closer to the redemption date. The balance of the net proceeds of the private placement will be used for general working capital and corporate purposes, including potential repurchases of the company’s listed warrants (GCM.WT.B) under its normal course issuer bid.

Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman of Gran Colombia, stated, “We are pleased to see Mr. Sprott, a well-known gold investor, increase his stake in Gran Colombia to over 10% and to welcome investment from other key strategic and institutional investors. While our operations continue to generate free cash flow, we believe the opportunity to apply a significant portion of the net proceeds of this private placement toward a further deleveraging of our balance sheet creates value for our shareholders, particularly in the current gold price environment, enabling us to reduce our debt service ahead of schedule and preserving for our shareholders the gold premium we would otherwise be paying on the gold notes we intend to redeem.”

Prior to completion of the private placement, Eric Sprott already owned or controlled 3,260,870 common shares and 3,260,870 warrants of the company, which represented 6.09% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Gran Colombia Gold on a non-diluted basis and approximately 11.48% on a partially diluted basis. Through the private placement, 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation that is beneficially owned by Sprott, acquired 3,571,429 Units of Gran Colombia at a price of $5.60 CAD per unit for a total investment of $20 million CAD.

As a result of the private placement, when combined with existing holdings, Sprott will beneficially own or control 6,832,299 common shares and 6,832,299 warrants of the company representing 11.24% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Gran Colombia on a non-diluted basis and approximately 20.20% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Gran Colombia assuming only the exercise of the warrants.

High-grade mineralization was also encountered in a new zone in the footwall of the MDZ in hole MT-IU-050 and is anticipated to be accretive to overall global resource growth as this mineralization lies either outside the boundary of the current mineral resource estimate block model for the MZ or in areas that were previously estimated to be below the cut-off grade due to lack of information.

Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman of Gran Colombia, commented, “Our 2019 Phase 2 drilling campaign has generated additional exciting results which have further increased our confidence in the geological model and continues to demonstrate an improvement of grades in the MZ below the 900 meter level versus the mineral resource block model associated with the PEA. In addition, the discovery of a potential new high-grade zone opens a new scenario for potential resource growth. All in all, we remain very encouraged by the progress we are making in the evaluation of the underground mining expansion opportunity at our Marmato Project.“

Longitudinal section of MZ Zone

The 2019 drilling campaign started in March and was completed in late November with three contractor diamond drill rigs, one of which was added to the Phase 2 drilling campaign in early September, operating from four purpose-built underground drill stations. The two drilling campaigns comprise a total of 30 drill holes totaling approximately 16,299 meters, of which 4,600 meters were completed in seven drill holes in Phase 1 and 11,699 meters were completed in 23 drill holes in Phase 2.

The company plans to drill up to 15,000 meters in 2020 commencing toward the end of February. Approximately 10,000 meters of infill drilling is designed to convert Inferred mineral resources to the Indicated category and to add additional mineral resources by stepping out along the southeast extension of the MZ. Another approximately 5,000 meters of exploration drilling will focus on broad mineralized zone targets outside the MDZ.

Cross section of drill hole MT-IU-050 (Final)

Intersections with high gold grades generated from the last eight drill holes of Phase 2 drilling reported herein (MT-IU-046 to MT-IU-052 and MT-IU-054), include:

• Drill hole MT-IU-050 which intersected 54.42 m at 3.65 g/t Au and 4.3 g/t Ag from 246.75 m to 301.17 m, 51.80 m at 3.0 g/t Au and 6.0 g/t Ag from 379.3 m to 431.10 m, and 41.35 m at 4.14 g/t Au and 4.34 g/t Ag from 449.0 m to 490.35m; all these intersections are associated with the MZ.
• Drill hole MT-IU-050 also intersected 76.75 m at 3.12 g/t Au and 1.9 g/t Ag from 538.25 m to 615.00 m, which is the intersection associated with the NZ.
• Drill hole MT-IU-051 which intersected 75.83 m at 4.03 g/t Au and 5.5 g/t Ag from 248.00 m to 323.83 m.
• Drill hole MT-IU-054 which intersected 66.35 m at 3.05 g/t Au and 3.9 g/t Ag from 358.00 m to 424.35 m.

The style of mineralization for the intersection associated with the NZ is the same as the MZ and is characterized by very narrow veinlets of quartz-pyrrhotite-bismuth tellurides-free gold with minor amounts of pyrite and chalcopyrite rimmed by a narrow halo of sodic-calcic alteration.

Key Highlights and Intercepts from Phase 2 drilling

• The high-grade mineralization intercepted in drill hole MT-IU-050, outside the boundary of the current mineral resource estimate block model for the MZ, may represent a new zone (NZ) or a branch off the MZ. Further drilling in this area is required and is planned as part of the 2020 drilling program;
• The drill intercepts (MT-IU-050, MT-IU-051 and MT-IU-054) from Phase 2 drilling continue to demonstrate a further improvement of grades in the MZ below the 900-meter level versus the mineral resource block model associated with the PEA;
• The results from Phase 2 infill drilling continue to impress both in terms of grades and widths and will undoubtedly lead to an important resource growth coupled with a greater flexibility for mining;
• Most of the drill holes of Phase 2 reported herein end within the low-grade shell with the result that the MDZ is open on the east side. This is due to the location of underground drill stations above and close to the steeply plunging low grade shell. The holes achieved their objective of fully cutting the high grade MZ.

Images courtesy of Gran Colombia Gold

Lombardo Paredes, Chief Executive Officer of Gran Colombia, commenting on the company’s latest production update, said, “We are very pleased with our fourth quarter production results driven by both an increase in tonnages processed at our high-grade Segovia Operations as well as an improvement in grades at Marmato. This stellar fourth quarter performance enabled us to achieve the top end of our guidance range for 2019, setting a new high-water mark for annual production at 240,000 ounces of gold. With the continuing solid operating performance and spot gold prices remaining above an average of US$1,482 per ounce in the fourth quarter of 2019, our free cash flow and balance sheet continued to be positively impacted. At the end of December 2019, our cash balance stood at US$84 million, up from US$63 million at the end of the third quarter of 2019 and US$36 million at the end of 2018.”

“The increase in the fourth quarter cash position also benefited from the CA$15 million Sprott private placement we closed in early November, the proceeds of which we will use in the first quarter of 2020 toward funding our investment in Caldas Gold Corp. through a non-brokered private placement that will close concurrently with the completion of the RTO with Bluenose Gold. The aggregate principal amount of our Gold Notes outstanding stood at US$68.8 million at the end of December, down from $88.3 million at the end of 2018, and we have CA$20 million of convertible debentures currently outstanding,” added Paredes.

The Segovia Operations produced 20,133 ounces of gold in December bringing the total for the fourth quarter of 2019 to a new quarterly record of 58,180 ounces compared with 48,809 ounces in the fourth quarter of 2018. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Segovia Operations processed an average of 1,345 tpd at an average head grade of 16.2 g/t compared with an average of 1,076 tpd at an average head grade of 17.1 g/t in the fourth quarter of 2018. For the full year, the Segovia Operations produced a new record total of 214,241 ounces of gold in 2019, achieving the top end of its guidance range for the year and representing an 11% increase over 2018. Overall, the Segovia Operations processed an average of 1,237 tpd in 2019 at an average head grade of 16.4 g/t compared with an average of 1,015 tpd at an average head grade of 17.1 g/t in 2018.

At the Marmato Operations, December’s gold production of 2,258 ounces brings its total gold production for the fourth quarter of 2019 to 7,057 ounces compared with 6,451 ounces in the fourth quarter of 2018. The Company processed an average of 1,009 tpd in the fourth quarter of 2019 at Marmato, up from 926 tpd in the fourth quarter last year. Gold production in the fourth quarter of 2019 received a boost from improved head grades which increased to an average of 2.7 g/t from an average of 2.4 g/t through the first nine months of 2019. For the full year, Marmato produced a total of 25,750 ounces of gold in 2019, near the top end of its guidance range and representing a 3% increase over 2018.

Gran Colombia expects to release its 2019 fourth quarter and annual financial results together with the updated mineral reserve and resource estimates for its Segovia Operations on or about March 31, 2020. Webcast details will be announced in early March.

The Technical Report, with a report date of November 27, 2019 and an effective date of July 31, 2019, was prepared by SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. and is entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report Preliminary Economic Assessment Marmato Project Colombia”. The “qualified persons” for the purposes of NI 43-101 include Ben Parsons, MSc, MAusIMM (CP) – Principal Consultant (Resource Geologist); Cristian Pereira Farias, SME-RM – Senior Consultant (Hydrogeologist); David Bird, PG, SME-RM – Associate Principal Consultant (Geochemistry); David Hoekstra, Bs, PE, NCEES, SME-RM – Principal Consultant (Water Resource Engineering); Eric Olin, MSc, Metallurgy, MBA, SME-RM, MAusIMM – Principal Consultant (Metallurgy); Fernando Rodrigues, BS Mining, MBA, MAusIMM, MMSAQP – Principal Consultant (Mining Engineer); Jeff Osborn, BEng, Mining, MMSAQP – Principal Consultant (Mining Engineer); Joanna Poeck, BEng Mining, SME-RM, MMSAQP – Principal Consultant (Mining Engineer); John Tinucci, PhD, PE, ISRM – Principal Consultant (Geotechnical Engineer); Mark Allan Willow, MSc, CEM, SME-RM – Principal Consultant (Environmental); and Joshua Sames, BSc Civil, PE – Senior Consultant (Civil Engineering).

The report is available on the Company’s website at www.grancolombiagold.com and under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman of Gran Colombia, commenting on the preliminary results of the Marmato technical study, said, “We are very pleased to have reached the point at which we can see a path forward to significantly expand production from our Marmato Project and, through the recently announced spin out, create value for our shareholders while protecting our capital structure and balance sheet. The PEA charts a course whereby the immediate implementation of an optimized mine plan in the upper existing mine at Marmato, much like we did a few years ago at Segovia, will increase production and free cash flow starting in 2020. Concurrently, we will commence the development and construction activities in the new Deep Zone, which should come on stream in 2023, further increasing total gold production which reaches more than 150,000 ounces annually from 2024 through 2027 and then averages more than 100,000 ounces annually over the next nine years of operation. We expect to complete the transaction with Bluenose and the equity private placement in December and we are proceeding with the prefeasibility study to be finalized by mid-2020.”

On October 7, 2019, Gran Colombia announced that it had entered into a letter of intent with Bluenose Gold Corp. (TSX-V: BN.H) in respect of the proposed acquisition by Bluenose of certain mining assets at Gran Colombia’s Marmato Project located in the Department of Caldas, Colombia. The mining assets principally comprise the existing producing underground gold mine, including the right to mine in the lower portion of the Echandia license area, the existing 1,200 tons per day (“tpd”) processing plant and the area encompassing the Deep Zone mineralization, all located within the mining license area referred to as Zona Baja. Gran Colombia will retain its existing ownership of the mining licenses in the areas known as Zona Alta and Echandia.

Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) Update Effective July 31, 2019

The table below summarizes the updated MRE effective as of July 31, 2019 (the “2019 MRE”) for each of Zona Alta and Zona Baja at Marmato:

Highlights of July 31, 2019 MRE

• Total Measured Resources in Zona Baja of 2.1 million tons at a grade of 4.9 g/t totaling 0.3 million ounces of gold are limited to vein material within the current levels being mined by Gran Colombia.
• Total Indicated Resources in Zona Baja of 15.2 million tons at a grade of 3.5 g/t totaling 1.7 million ounces of gold have been delineated primarily between Levels 16 and 21 in the existing mine, including areas in the lower portion of the Echandia license accessible from the current mining operation, and includes 0.5 million ounces of gold in the new Deep Zone, reflecting the exploration drilling completed to the end of July 2019.
• Total Inferred Resources in Zona Baja of 44.9 million tons at a grade of 2.3 g/t totaling 3.3 million ounces of gold have been delineated primarily in the Deep Zone and will be the subject of further drilling to upgrade Inferred to Indicated Resources for the prefeasibility study (“PFS”) expected to be completed by mid-2020.
• The 2019 MRE incorporates an additional 12,765 channel samples since the last MRE in 2017 (the “2017 MRE”) as part of the ongoing validation and capture of historical sampling and current grade control practices. In addition, there has been an increase in the drilling database of 152 additional holes since the 2017 MRE, which is split between 35 exploration holes (16,076 m) and 117 mine holes (9,172 m) inclusive of grade control sampling.
• The 2019 MRE reflects a reduction in material from the porphyry domain as gold cut-off grades used to report the porphyry domain increased from 1.2 g/t in the 2017 MRE to 1.9 g/t in the 2019 MRE, which is in line with the current cut-off grades used for the veins within the same areas.
• Additional Deep Zone mineralization has been defined in the 2019 MRE as a result of infill drilling.
• The Deep Zone is continuous along strike for approximately 500 m and has a confirmed down dip extent that reaches up to 800 m with a thickness that varies between 35 m and 150 m. The Deep Zone remains open at depth and to the east.

The following table provides further detail regarding the Mineral Resource estimate for gold in the Marmato Project as of July 31, 2019:

• Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
• All figures are rounded to reflect relative accuracy of the estimate. All composites have been capped where appropriate.
• Zona Alta includes mineral resources from the Echandia license above 1,340 masl.
• Zona Baja includes mineral resources from the Echandia license below 1,340 masl and above 1,025 masl and are accessible from the current mining operation.
• Vein and Porphyry mineral resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 1.9 g/t. Cut-off grades have been based on a price of US$1,500 per ounce of gold, suitable benchmarked technical and economic parameters and gold recoveries of 95% for underground resources, without considering revenues from other metal.
• Deep Zone mineral resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 1.3 g/t. Cut-off grades have been based on a price of US$1,500 per ounce of gold, suitable benchmarked technical and economic parameters and gold recoveries of 95% for underground resources, without considering revenues from other metal within a limiting pit shell. The Deep Zone includes mineral resources an elevation of 1,025 masl.

Marmato PEA and Life-of-Mine (“LoM”) Plan

A mining study and schedule was prepared by both SRK’s and Gran Colombia’s technical professionals to create a LoM production schedule for the Mining Assets at Marmato. The Marmato mine in Zona Baja will ultimately comprise two distinct operations, the existing Upper Zone operation and a new Deep Zone operation which sits directly below the Upper Zone vein system. The Zona Baja contract was awarded to Gran Colombia’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Gran Colombia Gold Marmato S.A.S. (formerly Mineros Nacionales S.A.S.) in October 1991 and is valid for 30 years until October 2021. In October 2017, Gran Colombia commenced the process to renew the contract for another 30-year term, which is progressing well and is expected to be completed in 2020.

The PEA LoM production schedule foresees a total of 26.4 million tons of mineralized material being processed over a 19-year mine life resulting in a total of 2.2 million ounces of gold produced at an average LoM total cash cost of US$799 per ounce and an average LoM AISC of US$882 per ounce. The initial capital cost, to be incurred between 2020 and 2022, required for the Deep Zone mining operation is estimated to total US$269 million. At an expected long-term gold price of $1,300 per ounce, total LoM undiscounted after-tax free cash flow from mining operations amounts to US$448 million. At a 5% discount rate, the net present value of the total LoM after-tax free cash flow amounts US$207 million. Before financing, the project has a 20% internal rate of return and payback by 2026.

The annual production profile over the LoM in the PEA from both the Upper and Deep Zones is shown in the headline chart, above.

The Upper Zone is the existing operating gold and silver mine that extends from 1,350 m elevation down to 1,025 m elevation. The Upper Zone extends approximately 300 m vertically and approximately 900 m along the vein structure. The mine has been developed with level accesses proceeding horizontally from the main portal as the surface to horizontal cross cuts to provide access to the veins. There are currently six production levels, the highest being Level 16 and the lowest being Level 21. The mine uses the conventional cut and fill stope mining technique that supplies approximately 1,000 tpd of material to a 1,200 tpd capacity mill which uses a Merrill-Crowe process to produce gold/silver dore bars.

In the PEA, the Upper Zone is envisioned to produce 5.5 million tons of mineralized material, primarily from the vein system, over a 16-year life with an average LoM head grade of 3.8 g/t resulting in total gold production of 0.6 million ounces, or about 27% of total gold production from both the Upper and Deep Zones. This will be accomplished through the immediate implementation of an optimized mine plan, including the strict control of dilution and mine recovery, that will see annual production increase from the current approximately 25,000 ounces/year to a range between 35,000 and 40,000 ounces/year starting in 2020.

To accomplish the optimized mine plan, Gran Colombia will need to invest approximately US$12 million over the next two years in mine development and equipment. As a result of the implementation of the optimized mine plan, the PEA also envisions an approximately 25% reduction in total cash costs per ounce to a LoM average of $803 per ounce and a LoM AISC averaging US$872 per ounce of gold produced from the Upper Zone.

Deep Zone Mining Operation

The Deep Zone area is currently in the exploration phase and has not been developed. Mineralization is located approximately 600 to 1,200 m below surface (530 masl to 1,015 masl) and can be mined using an underground longhole stoping method. The stopes will be 10 m wide and stope length will vary based on mineralization grade. A spacing of 25 m between levels will be used. The deposit will be mined in blocks where mining within a block occurs from bottom to top with the use of paste backfill. Sill pillars are left in situ between bocks. The backfill will have sufficient strength to allow for mining adjacent to filled stopes. The mine will be accessed by a decline drift with mineralization transported from stopes to surface by underground trucks. Internal intake and exhaust raises will be developed using raisebore machines and air will flow into dedicated intake and exhaust ventilation drifts to surface.

A new 4,000 tpd plant facility using gravity concentration and cyanidation of the gravity tailing will be constructed to process material from the Deep Zone. In the PFS stage of the project, Gran Colombia will evaluate the potential to reduce capital costs by incorporating suitable elements into this new plant from the Pampa Verde processing plant currently in storage. In addition, a new “dry stack” tailings storage facility will be constructed to receive approximately 55% of the total LoM tailings from the plant. The other 45% of tailings will go back underground in cemented paste backfill into the mine.

In the PEA, the Deep Zone is envisioned to produce 20.8 million tons of mineralized material over a 16-year life commencing in 2023 with an average LoM head grade of 2.5 g/t resulting in total gold production of 1.6 million ounces, or about 73% of total gold production from both the Upper and Deep Zones.

The initial investment to be incurred in 2020 through 2022 totals approximately US$269 million comprising development of the Deep Zone (including the main decline drift and ventilation raises), mining and other equipment, construction of the new processing plant and the tailings storage facility. The PEA estimates the LOM total cash costs and AISC in the Deep Zone will average US$797 per ounce and US$885 per ounce, respectively.

Lombardo Paredes, Chief Executive Officer of Gran Colombia, commenting on the Company’s latest production results, said, “We remain on track to meet our increased production guidance for 2019. In August, we successfully ran the Maria Dama plant at Segovia using its expanded capacity and our development programs have opened up new areas within our company mines to maintain the increased processing rate. We are also making steady progress on our evaluation of the mine expansion opportunity at our Marmato Project and expect to file the preliminary economic assessment before the end of the year.”

The company’s Segovia Operations produced 16,739 ounces of gold in August bringing the total for the first eight months of 2019 to 138,850 ounces, up 9% over the first eight months of 2018. Utilizing its expanded mill capacity at Segovia, Gran Colombia processed an average of 1,371 tons per day (“tpd”) in August, up from an average in 2019 of 1,144 tpd through the end of July, with an average head grade of 13.7 g/t. The expansion of the mill capacity to 1,500 tpd was completed in July and the filter press is now operating at the El Chocho tailings storage facility. The Company initially used lower grade stockpile material to feed the expanded plant while it continued to prepare additional areas in its mines to feed the plant going forward. The Company expects that with these new areas now in operation, Segovia’s head grades will average between 14 and 15 g/t over the balance of the year. Segovia’s trailing 12 months’ total gold production at the end of August 2019 stood at 204,799 ounces, up 6% over 2018’s annual production. The Company continues to expect that its annual gold production at its Segovia Operations for 2019 will range between 201,000 and 214,000 ounces.

At the Marmato Operations, August’s gold production of 1,971 ounces brings total production for the first eight months of 2019 to 16,509 ounces, on par with the first eight months of 2018. Marmato’s trailing 12 months’ total gold production at the end of August 2019 totaled 24,940 ounces, on par with 2018’s annual production and within the Company’s annual guidance range for 2019 of between 24,000 and 26,000 ounces of gold.

Lombardo Paredes, Chief Executive Officer of Gran Colombia, commenting on the Company’s latest production results, said, “We turned in another strong quarter of operating performance in the second quarter of 2019 led by our flagship Segovia operations. The final phase of the expansion of the Maria Dama plant to 1,500 tons per day (“tpd”) was completed earlier this month, giving us the additional capacity required to handle our expected near term growth. In light of our first half results, we now feel confident in raising our annual production guidance for 2019 to between 225,000 and 240,000 ounces of gold.”

The Segovia operations produced 16,891 ounces of gold in June bringing the total for the second quarter of 2019 to 51,625 ounces, up 10% over the second quarter of 2018. Gran Colombia processed an average of 1,173 tpd at its Segovia operations in the second quarter of 2019, up 16% compared with the second quarter last year. After receiving a boost from a high-grade area at the Providencia mine in the first quarter this year, Segovia’s overall head grade returned to an average of 16.8 g/t (grams per ton) in the second quarter of 2019 compared with 17.3 g/t in the second quarter last year. For the first half of 2019, the Segovia operations produced a total of 106,011 ounces of gold, up 13% over the first half last year. Overall, the company processed an average of 1,143 tpd in the first half of 2019, up 18% over the first half last year, at an average head grade of 17.8 g/t, up from 16.7 g/t in the first half last year. Segovia’s trailing 12 months’ total gold production at the end of June 2019 has increased to 205,518 ounces, up 6% over 2018’s annual production. As such, the company is raising its 2019 annual production guidance for Segovia to a range between 201,000 and 214,000 ounces of gold.

At the Marmato Operations, June’s gold production of 1,991 ounces brings its total production for the second quarter of 2019 to 6,257 ounces, up 7% compared with the second quarter of 2018. For the first half of 2019, Marmato produced a total of 12,472 ounces of gold, up 4% over the first half last year. With Marmato’s trailing 12 months’ total gold production at the end of June 2019 amounting to 25,388 ounces, the company is maintaining its 2019 annual production guidance for this operation of between 24,000 and 26,000 ounces of gold.

Photos courtesy of Gran Colombia Gold