Aguia triples gold output as Colombian mine gathers steam
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Aguia Resources appears to have cracked the code on its high-grade Santa Barbara gold project in Colombia; A six-month restructuring process transformed a floundering start-up into a thriving high-grade gold operation.
The Santa Barbara project, which is 100 percent owned by the company, is located within Colombia’s historic Serranía de San Lucas gold belt, famous for its high-grade underground gold mineralization.
The mine and gold processing facility had its best ever performance in June, producing 851.9 grams or approximately 27 ounces of gold from 100 tonnes of ore processed; This is a threefold increase compared to the previous month.
The improved performance resulted from mining the highest grade section of the project’s main gold-bearing structure, the No. 1 Lode below Shaft 2. Thicker, more consistent mineralization was achieved, providing the processing plant with ore grading of more than 10 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold.
‘These results provide a clear path to grow the operation, strengthening our confidence in the next phase of Santa Barbara’s sustainable manufacturing growth.’
Timothy Hoskings, managing director and chief executive officer of Aguia Resources
The stronger performance came from tighter grade control and more selective mining of Santa Barbara’s high-grade gold veins.
These veins naturally expand and contract along their length, making mining technically challenging. If too much waste rock from the environment is mined along with the ore, gold grades can drop sharply. But when miners stay tight to the grain, relatively small mining volumes can yield meaningful gold production due to exceptionally high grades.
Aguia’s ability to consistently deliver ore grading greater than 10 g/t gold while quadrupling recoveries compared to the same period last year shows it has found the right formula.
The company met its June production target a month ahead of schedule; This signaled that the difficult start-up period could now be in the rearview mirror as Santa Barbara moves towards becoming a reliable cash generator.
Timothy Hoskings, managing director and chief executive officer of Aguia Resources, said: “After six months of restructuring, optimization and planning, we finished June ahead of schedule with gold grades and recoveries improving significantly. CAPEX and OPEX are significantly below last year and total operating costs have decreased by more than half.”
Aguia says costs fell sharply in the first half of 2026 compared to the previous six months following facility management changes. Capital expenditures were cut by 80 percent, operating expenses fell by 56 percent, and general expenses fell by 38 percent, reducing total operating expenses by 57 percent.
Having stabilized the operation and greatly reduced costs, the company then turned its attention to increasing production. Facility repairs, equipment upgrades and installation of mechanized mining equipment are now complete ahead of the next phase of mining.
The company is also continuing the third phase development of the project; Work continues on higher-grade sections of the No. 1 main Lode and parallel gold-bearing vein as we expand mining to nine producing faces.
The expanded mining areas will feed the project’s gold processing facility, which currently has a capacity of more than 250 tonnes per month, supporting Aguia’s target of processing 150 tonnes in August and 200 tonnes in September.
The planned production increase is also supported by a strong gold market; spot gold is trading around A$5,920 per ounce.
The high grades mean that relatively small mining volumes can still generate attractive returns when gold prices are strong.
Santa Barbara is at the center of Aguia’s dual-product strategy, which combines its fast-growing organic phosphate fertilizer business in Brazil with its high-quality Colombian gold operation and is now on track to become the company’s second source of operating cash.
With gold sales starting to cover overhead and the operation targeting breakeven costs this quarter, Santa Barbara is getting closer to financing its own growth.
Developing cash flows in Colombia could also fund a return to exploration drilling by the end of the year to test expansions to Santa Barbara’s high-grade gold vein system.
More than two-thirds of the project remains unexplored using modern exploration techniques, leaving plenty of blue sky beyond existing underground workings.
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