Gran Colombia Reports May 2020 Gold Production

TORONTO, June 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX: GCM; OTCQX: TPRFF) announced today that it produced a total of 18,129 ounces of gold in May 2020, about 98% of gold production in May last year. This brings the total gold production for the first five months of 2020 to 86,978 ounces compared with 99,601 ounces in the first five months of 2019, reflecting the impact of COVID-19 on April 2020’s production. The Company expects to update its 2020 annual production guidance when it reports its mid-year financial results in August.

Lombardo Paredes, Chief Executive Officer of Gran Colombia, commenting on the Company’s latest production results, said, “We are continuing to operate at both Segovia and Marmato as the COVID-19 national quarantine in Colombia lingers on. In May, we benefitted from a full month of near normal operations at Segovia and expect the same for June. At Marmato, access to workers remained limited in May and we produced about half of what we normally would have expected for the month. The outlook appears to be improving in June as the local municipalities have recently allowed more workers to return to the mine. As such, we expect June’s production could reach about 75% of normal.”

The Segovia Operations returned to more normal levels in May 2020 with gold production of 16,915 ounces compared with 16,363 ounces in May last year. This brings Segovia’s total gold production for the first five months of 2020 to 78,661 ounces compared with 89,120 ounces in the first five months last year. Gran Colombia processed an average of 1,325 tonnes per day (“tpd”) in May 2020 at Segovia, up from 1,029 tpd in April 2020 which had been adversely impacted by the implementation of the national quarantine in Colombia in response to COVID-19. The primary challenge during the national quarantine has centered around restrictions on people logistics at the mine site. Since mid-April, actions taken by the Company have returned operations to about 95% of normal. In May 2020, head grades improved to 14.2 g/t compared with 12.8 g/t in April, bringing the average head grade for the first five months of 2020 to 14.4 g/t compared with 18.1 g/t in the first five months last year. The Company expects June’s production at Segovia will be in the same range as May.