La Patona Gold Ore Processing Plant is a part-built gold ore processing facility located in Acarí, approximately 45 km from Nativo's wholly owned Tesoro Gold Concession. Nativo holds the right to complete and operate the plant under existing permits, and will develop it as a dual-circuit flotation and cyanidation facility with an on-site smelter producing gold doré bars and on-site metallurgy and assaying of all ore. La Patona is central to Nativo's strategy of building an integrated mining and processing business in Peru: it will process ore from the company's own operations alongside material from third-party artisanal and small-scale miners, enabling Nativo to retain a greater share of the margin from production and to operate as a regional processing hub.
Structural Advantages
- La Patona is designed to use own-ore feed security from Nativo's mining assets to mitigate supply volatility, the primary risk for pure third-party processors
- Operations are designed to be LBMA-aligned from inception, using digital traceability to position the plant for premium refinery offtake
- A lean workforce model of 65 to 100 employees for a 350 t/d plant is a structural advantage over larger, listed multi-country operators
- The phased build sequence (70 → 110 → 350 t/d) is designed to limit capital at risk while establishing ore supply and assay protocols at each stage
- The crushing and milling circuit is sized for full plant capacity from the outset, so each phase can be delivered with modest incremental capital
The plant is construction-ready, with the final investment decision subject only to completion of project financing.
Key highlights:
- Phase 1 — 70 t/d cyanidation circuit
- Configuration: crushing, milling and cyanidation (lixiviation) circuit
- Blended feed grade target: 15–25 g/t Au
- Production target: 0.94–1.59 kg/d gold doré
- Estimated capital cost: US$2.03m base (US$2.75m including 35% contingency)
- Target: construction and commissioning H2 2026; first gold Q4 2026
- Phase 1a — 110 t/d capacity expansion
- Addition of tank capacity to the cyanidation circuit
- Incremental capital of approximately US$88k (before contingency)
- Production estimate of 1.47-2.50 kg Au/d at 110 t/d
- Funded from Phase 1 operating cash flow
- Phase 2 — 350 t/d flotation circuit
- Addition of a ~240 t/d flotation circuit for lower-grade material (5–15 g/t Au)
- Combined plant production target: 2.54–5.78 kg/d gold doré
- Incremental capital of approximately US$1.1m (before contingency)
- Funded from Phase 1a operating cash flow
- Production targets assume gold recoveries of 90–92% and a smelting yield of 99%, and are subject to the availability of suitable feed material from Nativo's own operations and third-party suppliers
- Phase 1 to be funded through a combination of project finance, royalty stream finance and equity finance, optimising dilution; subsequent phases to be funded from Phase 1 free cash flow, removing further capex requirements for scale-up
- Final investment decision remains subject only to completion of project financing; advanced financing discussions continue with multiple potential funding partners, and an offtake proposal from a major commodities trading house remains under consideration
- On completion of financing, Phase 1 construction and commissioning is targeted for H2 2026, with first gold targeted in Q4 2026
Research Analysis on La Patona
Nativo has published a research note benchmarking the company’s proposed La Patona Gold Ore Processing Plant in the Caravelí region of Peru against the five most relevant operating comparators in Peru's institutional artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold processing sector, alongside a market study on regional ore supply.
Regional Ore Supply
- Substantial regional ore availability identified across the Acarí-Huanca corridor, with an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 active artisanal producers within the plant's direct area of influence
- Individual producers report output ranging from 1 to 60 tonnes per month
- Regional ore grades range from 4.25 to 24 g/t Au, with the majority in the 10 to 20 g/t range
- A single identified producer could supply up to 30 tpd, around 43% of initial Phase 1 capacity
- Long-term expansion to 250-350 t/d is expected to require 150 to 300 active suppliers and/or aggregator partnerships
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Ore Purchasing Model & Sector Benchmark
- The gold ore purchasing model is proven at institutional scale in Peru, with leading participants generating US$260-400m in revenue at 10-13% operating margins
- The regional market in the Caravelí and Chala belts supports multiple plants operating at 150-500 t/d, purchasing from registered artisanal miners and selling to LBMA-accredited refineries
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