Rio2’s first gold at Fenix mine: heap leach design and ramp-up notes for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Rio2 has poured first gold at its $235 million Fenix mine in Chile’s Atacama region, producing 897 oz on 23 January after a 358 oz commissioning pour in December, with both pours also yielding about 131 oz of silver. The run-of-mine heap leach operation, located on the Maricunga gold belt, avoids crushing and tailings infrastructure and is ramping toward 20,000 tonnes of ore per day, targeting 60,000–70,000 oz of gold in 2026. Construction created roughly 1,200 jobs, with about 550 permanent roles planned over the mine’s 17-year life.
Technical Brief
- Critical-path infrastructure for the US$235 million Fenix development was delivered on time and on budget.
- Run-of-mine heap leach configuration removes the need for a crushing plant and conventional tailings storage.
- Location on Chile’s Maricunga gold belt places Fenix within an established high-altitude mining district.
- Construction phase, started roughly a year earlier, peaked at about 1,200 on-site jobs.
- Operating phase is planned to sustain around 550 direct jobs over an anticipated 17-year mine life.
- First official gold pour on 23 January followed a separate commissioning pour completed in December.
- Both initial pours also produced approximately 131 ounces of silver as a by-product.
- Fenix is positioned as Rio2’s cornerstone asset alongside integration of the Condestable copper mine acquisition in Peru.
Our Take
With the Fenix gold project in Chile now pouring first gold and Rio2 also moving to acquire a 99.1% interest in the Condestable copper mine in Peru (Dec 2025 piece), the company is building a multi-asset Latin American profile spanning both gold and copper rather than remaining a single-asset developer.
A US$235 million project cost for Fenix and a 17‑year mine life put this asset in the mid-tier bracket in our database, which typically gives operators enough scale to support district-level exploration in belts like the Maricunga while still being financeable for smaller companies such as Rio2.
The 550 permanent positions supported over the life of the Fenix gold mine are material for the Atacama region, and similar employment figures in other Latin American gold projects in our coverage have often translated into stronger local political backing during later expansion or permitting phases.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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