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Orla Mining (TSX: OLA; NYSE: ORLA) has declared commercial production at its wholly owned Camino Rojo oxide gold mine in Zacatecas state, Mexico, officially joining the list of precious metals producers in the country.

“In reaching commercial production at Camino Rojo, we have completed our transformation from explorer through developer to producer in three years,” Jason Simpson, CEO of Orla Mining, said in a news release.

The declaration of commercial production at Camino Rojo comes after a successful commissioning period that began in October 2021. This included the ramp-up of mining and processing to sustained throughput levels in excess of 75% of the designed nameplate capacity of 18,000 tonnes per day.

The first gold pour was completed on schedule in December, with three bars weighing a total of 1,278 oz of gold and silver.

All major construction activities have now been completed, and Camino Rojo has demonstrated its ability to sustain ongoing production levels, the company said.

Camino Rojo is an open-pit heap leach operation consisting of a near-surface oxide gold-silver deposit within a large deeper gold-silver-zinc-lead sulphide zone.

The project is currently based on the oxide resources only, measured at 94.6 million tonnes measured and indicated grading 0.71 g/t gold and 12.7 g/t silver for 2.1 million oz gold and 38.8 million oz silver.

During the first year of production at Camino Rojo, Orla will focus on near-mine and regional exploration to increase its oxide reserves. The company said it will also study the sulphide deposit development scenarios by testing targets identified in 2021 drilling.