Mako Mining's third-quarter update, released October 19, is mostly about its San Albino mine in Nicaragua. The parts that matter in the western tour states are in Nevada and Arizona: a permit milestone that unblocks construction at Mt. Hamilton, and a producing mine at Moss that is about to get a much bigger crushing circuit.
- On October 16, the US Forest Service issued permits for condemnation drilling at Mt. Hamilton, Nevada, once Mako posts a US$265,205 reclamation bond. Mako calls this the principal bottleneck to full-scale construction.
- A minor amendment to Mt. Hamilton's plan of operations — covering crusher and overland conveyor placement — is still under USFS review; Mako expects approval later this year and says the timing does not affect its schedule. First gold pour is anticipated in December 2027.
- The Moss Mine in Mohave County, Arizona recovered 3,599 ounces of gold in Q3 2026 and sold 2,812 ounces at an average realized price of US$4,343 per ounce.
- Moss's crushing plant averaged 5,113 short tons per day in Q3 — below the 8,500 stpd in its August 2026 technical report — and a procured upgrade is expected to push throughput above 12,000 stpd by Q3 2027.
- Company-wide, Mako recovered 12,743 ounces in Q3 (San Albino contributing 9,145) on roughly US$50 million of revenue, holding US$119.3 million in cash, securities and trade receivables at September 30.
Moss: fixing the bottleneck at the crusher
Mako is plain about why Moss underperformed its plan: the legacy crushing plant is mechanically constrained, and higher stacking lifts on the heap leach pad slowed solution return times, deferring some gold recovery into Q4. A new leach pad is expected to be operational during Q4 2026. The bigger fix is the upgrade now procured — additional crushing and screening capacity, conveyor modifications and electrical work — which the company expects to take the plant past 12,000 short tons per day, about 40% above the technical report's rate and roughly 130% above Q3's actual throughput. Higher-grade material from the East Pit, expected from early 2027, is the other half of the company's plan to more than double Moss's gold production from current levels.
The honesty box
The December 2027 first pour at Mt. Hamilton, the 12,000-stpd throughput figure and the production-doubling expectation at Moss are company forecasts, not results. The Mt. Hamilton plan-of-operations amendment has not yet been approved, and the condemnation drilling permit takes effect only once the reclamation bond is posted and accepted. Q3 production figures are unaudited operating results.
What to watch
Bond posting and the start of condemnation drilling at Mt. Hamilton, the USFS decision on the plan amendment later this year, and whether Moss's Q4 numbers show the deferred ounces and new leach pad arriving as described.