It said the Corihuarmi update put the measured and indicated resources at 13.8 million tonnes at 0.21g/t, which confirmed sufficient resources to extend the mine life to August 2024.
CEO Diego Benavides said the mine, which had been in production since 2008 with a forecast life span of four years, had historically provided the capital needed to operate the business.
"This 2021 MRE confirms our expectation that it can continue to do so, and this also translates to further capacity to advance the technical work required to get Ollachea ready for construction kick-off," he said.
The company recently appointed Mining Plus to prepare a new preliminary economic assessment for Ollachea, considering a low cap-ex start up.
"Although it may seem counter-intuitive to complete a PEA at this point, the ultimate goal by formalising the PEA is to get the project into production as soon as possible with a simplified staged approach, rather than using the design contemplated in 2012 and presented in the feasibility study," Minera said in March.
The 2012 Ollachea study had outlined initial capex of US$177.5 million for a nine-year mine with a post-tax NPV7 of $155 million and IRR of 22.1% using a $1,300/oz gold price.
The company had settled a dispute with Peru's COFIDE in November, opening the way to funding the Ollachea development.
Corihuarmi produced 14,568 ounces of gold between November 2020 and May 2021.
Minera shares (CSE: MIRL) were unchanged yesterday at C8.5c, valuing it about $20 million (US$16 million).
