GCM's Marmato mine (findmymine.com)

GCM's Marmato mine (findmymine.com)

Quietly yesterday, Serafino Iacono’s Gran Colombia Gold (GCM:TSX) announced it had grown production month-over-month to 9,988 ounces of gold in August (from 9,441 ounces in July).  These ounces come from the company’s underground mining operations in Colombia at their Segovia and Marmato mines.  The company has produced 70,939 ounces so far in 2013 with the bulk (56,333 ounces) coming from the Segovia mine.

Serafino Iacono, Executive Co-Chairman of Gran Colombia, commenting on the production update, said: "Over the last six months, we have averaged 9,270 ounces of gold, keeping us on track to meet our 2013 production guidance of 110,000 ounces of gold. At Segovia, we continue to make the necessary adjustments in our business model to reduce all-in sustaining costs, which are expected to be below $1,150 per ounce by the fourth quarter of this year."

The company has struggled with costs, but is confident they will be able to reduce all-in sustaining cost per ounce to $1,150 per ounce.  They have already begun cutting staff at Segovia and reducing throughput by roughly 50% in August, opting to only mine the highest grade mineralization there.  By doing this the company has been able to reduce total tonnes processed at their Maria Dama plant yet increasing the average head grade there by 37% to 11.6g/t gold.

Here’s the release: Gran Colombia Gold Produces 9,988 Ounces of Gold in August 2013