Luca Mining Corp V.LUCA

LUCA Presented at Investor Conference Today (Full Summary)

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Luca Mining’s CEO, Dan Barnholden, presented an engaging and detailed update on the company’s operations and strategic plans at the Virtual Investor Conference streamed today at 10 AM PT. The presentation provided a comprehensive overview of Luca’s two Mexican mining operations, recent financial milestones, and ambitious goals for 2025. Barnholden emphasized the company’s strong position in precious and base metals markets, highlighting ongoing optimization efforts, exploration plans, and expansion potential. 

Here is an in-depth summary of the key points from the presentation: 

Company Overview

Luca's fully permitted mines in Mexico produce a diverse range of metals including gold, zinc, copper, silver, and lead. CEO Dan Barnholden emphasized the company’s strategic pillars of value creation: **optimization, exploration, and expansion**, underscoring its commitment to leveraging its existing assets for significant growth.

Key Mines

•  Campo Morado: A volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit in Guerrero State.

•  Tahuehueto: A newly developed gold mine in Durango State.

• Revenue Breakdown: Approximately 50/50 split between precious and base metals, diversifying risk and benefiting from market trends such as high gold and zinc prices 

Optimization

• Campo Morado:

  •  Ongoing ramp-up to 2,000 tpd by year-end 2024 and 2,400 tpd by mid-2025.

  • Recovery Enhancements:

    • Copper recovery in bulk concentrate increased from 40% to 70% since Q4 2023 through targeted upgrades.

    • Transitioning from two-concentrate to three-concentrate production, adding dedicated copper and lead concentrates.

  • Barnholden highlights that this will, "put us in a position to get more money for the concentrate that we produce"

  • Improvement programs include replacing equipment, refurbishing flotation cells, and enhancing process control systems.

• Tahuehueto:

  • Ramp-up to full capacity of 1,000 tpd is expected to achieve commercial production by January 2025.

  • Production potential of *30,000 oz AuEq in 2025* at ~$1,800/oz AISC 

Exploration

• Aggressive exploration plans aim to double resources and grades.

• Exploration Necessity: “Grade times tons moved times recovery” is the formula for success, said Barnholden, emphasizing resource expansion to sustain long-term profitability.

• Campo Morado:

  • First major exploration campaign in over a decade begins in early 2025.

  • 38 high-priority targets identified; four “drill-ready” within current concessions

  • "Early January we will be able to go out and drill four of our top 10 targets and that is where we expected generate very exciting drill results in a very short period of time"

•  Tahuehueto:

  •  Exploration targeting untested veins with multi-million-ounce potential.

  •   Step-out drilling planned along strike and depth in promising

Expansion

• Plans to increase production organically from existing assets:

  • 2025 Goal: 80,000 to 100,000 oz AuEq.

  • Multi-phase improvements in infrastructure to support higher throughput.

Current Production and Costs

• Luca Mining anticipates producing *approximately 60,000 oz gold equivalent (AuEq) in 2024*, with **all-in sustaining costs (AISC) projected at $1,840/oz**.

• CEO Barnholden noted, “With the gold price where it sits today, plenty of operating margin exists to generate real cash flow operations.”

Financial Position

• Recent financing raised **C$11.5 million at $0.45/share** in September 2024, leaving the company financially secure to invest in optimization and exploration.

• Debt restructuring initiatives include a goal to **fully repay all outstanding debt by July 2025**, a year earlier than the scheduled July 2026 repayment date

• Outstanding Warrants: Warrants expiring in 2025 are expected to contribute significantly to debt repayment.

Catalysts for 2025 and Beyond

  1. Completion of ramp-up at Campo Morado and Tahuehueto.

  2. Optimization initiatives enhancing recoveries and concentrate payability.

  3. Execution of exploration programs at both assets.

  4. Accelerated debt repayment timeline.

  5. Expansion initiatives to grow production profiles.

  6. Strategic evaluation of M&A opportunities.

Conclusion

Dan Barnholden concluded by affirming Luca Mining’s commitment to delivering shareholder value through disciplined execution of its three pillars. He expressed confidence in the company’s trajectory, stating, “With two cash-flowing mines, a clean balance sheet, and aggressive exploration underway, we are poised for a near-term valuation re-rating.”

Full presentation replay here: 

Posted on behalf of Luca Mining Corp.