Orla Mining (TSXV: OLA; US-OTC: ORRLF) has increased gold recoveries at its Cerro Quema gold project in Panama with results from new metallurgical column tests — part of a larger initiative to update the project’s 2014 prefeasibility study (PFS) by mid-2019.

The company achieved 96% gold recoveries for its La Pava deposit and 91% for its Quemita deposit at a crush size of 150 mm. The results are a big upgrade to the average 86% recoveries at a -70 mm crush size in the original PFS. The company says it will consider one-stage crushing instead of two-stage crushing in an updated process plan.

The company also plans to include new reserve and resource estimates in its updated PFS. As of the 2014 PFS, the project contains 19.71 million proven and probable tonnes grading 0.77 gram gold and 0.04% copper for 488,000 oz. gold.

Those numbers are part of a larger resource for each deposit. The La Pava deposit contains 26.4 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.58 gram gold and 0.14% copper for 652,700 oz. gold equivalent. The Quemita deposit, along with the nearby Quema and Mesita deposits, contains 8.5 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.75 gram gold and 0.07% copper for 226,000 oz. gold equivalent.

The company is meanwhile advancing its Camino Rojo gold-silver project in Zacatecas, Mexico. The company tabled a preliminary economic assessment for Camino Rojo earlier this year that outlined a US$121 million after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate and a 24.5% after-tax internal rate of return.

Shares of Orla are currently trading at $1.22 with a 52-week range of $1.08 to $1.85. The company has a $218 million market capitalization.