Nativo Resources PLC on Monday said its joint venture partner, Boku Resources SAC, has entered into a sales agreement with a gold ore processing plant in the Arequipa region in Peru.

The Latin America-focused exploration company operates the Tesoro Gold Concession in Peru under a 50%-owned joint venture with Boku Resources. The unnamed Arequipa plant is approximately 70 kilometres from the Tesoro site.

Under the agreement, the Arequipa plant will purchase vein material recovered from the Bonanza mine at Tesoro. The vein material will be assayed and processed, and the measured gold recovered will be priced at the international market spot price. The processing plant will target recovery rates of around 90% gold.

Nativo Resources expects around 30 tonnes of vein material to be collected by the plant in December, at the same time as its first production material is transported.

Based on its own sampling, Boku Resources anticipates grades of between 8 grammes and 10 grammes per tonne of gold.

Preparations for the underground mine at Tesoro continue, and Nativo expects simultaneous production to begin in December. Boku has targeted initial production rates between 3 tonnes and 5 tonnes per day, to build to 28 tonnes per day by June 2025.

Chief Executive Officer Stephen Birrell said: ‘We are excited to have established a commercial arrangement with a local gold ore processing plant to sell Bonanza vein material. The mine is developing in line with expectations. Net income from vein material sales will initially be applied to expanding the mine and production at Tesoro through subsequent shafts and developing our own processing capabilities to retain more value from the mined material.’

Shares in Nativo Resources were up 6.9% at 0.0028 pence each in London on Monday morning.

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