I wonder what this may mean for commercial production. I'm not sure what 'definition' Lamaque will go by or needs to satisfy. If anyone could clarify by speaking with either Joanna Longo, or Daniel Major what Lamaque is working towards...that would be helpful.

I'm not sure when the high-lift came on line to take us to 2000tpd...bear in mind they could have been running 60% (see quote below) - which is 1200 tpd for awhile now...which means declaration could come sooner than people think. Here are some thoughts posted by Production05 back 1 Oct 2010 re: Commercial Production:

"It is not clear what they will be using as required targets to achieve commercial production at Lamaque. I am expecting they will need to process ore tpd at a rate of 60% of (current) life of mine tpd production (2,000), for 90 consecutive days. That would equate to 1,200 tpd (60% * 2,000 ore tpd) for the 90 consecutive day period. I don`t know if they are allowed any grace days in the 90 consecutive day period. I have always assumed that if one day is missed then the counter resets to the beginning. At least it is based on processed tonnes (not mined tonnes). As such, it is important to have some stockpile ore handy. If there are a few bad mining days with less than 1,200 tpd then the company can reach for the stockpile ore to ensure the 1,200 tpd processed ore total is achieved for that day. This would ensure that the 90 day count doesn`t reset all over again.

Anyway, the above is a typical commercial production target/requirement for start up gold mining operations (though number of consecutive days can vary – some are 30 and some are 60 (Lamaque will likely be 90 days though)). Also, it is not clear if there are additional requirements over and above this requirement, such as grade. Though, all examples I have come across in the past were strictly based on throughput (be it per hr or per day)."

"Off the top of my head, I am aware of 2 Lamaque production size gold mines that only required 30 days. They are both open pits mines though, as oppose to underground.

1) High River Gold`s Berezitovy mine in Russia. It`s a 100,000 – 120,000 gold ounce per year mine. Here was the Berezitovy definition of commercial production:

``Commercial Production is defined as 30 consecutive days of process plant operation at 60% capacity or better.``

2) High River Gold`s Taparko mine in Burkina Faso, West Africa. It`s a 120,000 – 140,000 gold ounce per year mine. Here was the definition of commercial production:

``The criteria established for Commercial Production stipulated that all components of the processing plant were to operate for 30 consecutive days at 60% capacity or better.``

Although these 2 High River mines only required 30 days, 90 days appears to be more typical in the industry I believe, from what I can recall of the wider population.

Of note, commercial production from the Sigma open pit under McWatters Mining (previous owner of the Lamaque Complex) required 90 days. Granted, that was open pit which is different from our underground start up, but it was on the same land package.

As such, 3 reasons I believe Lamaque will require 90 days:

1) Property previously required 90 days (albeit, the previous time was open pit).

2) 90 days appears to be typical for the industry

3) Century appears to have a commercial production timeframe (H1) that is dragged out, hence suggesting an extended period."