VANCOUVER, BC — February 18, 2026 — Leads & Copy —
Luca Mining Corp. has announced its board of directors has approved a mill optimization and expansion study and mine plan update for the Campo Morado mine. The study, dubbed the “Campo Morado Expansion” or “CME,” will be prepared as a technical report in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). The report is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2026.
Ausenco PTY Ltd., a global leader in metallurgical design, flotation, and precious metals recovery methods, has been selected as the technical third-party engineering consultant to lead the Campo Morado Expansion.
The CME is designed as a two-phase optimization and expansion project. Phase 1 will consider a bulk sulphide flotation processing flowsheet with increased grinding capacity to achieve optimal separation of sulphide minerals and produce high-quality copper and zinc concentrates. This phase targets higher recovery rates of all metals and increased mill throughput rates.
Phase 2 will evaluate the recovery to doré of the gold and silver contained in a precious metals-rich pyrite concentrate remaining after the Phase 1 optimized flotation process. Additional metallurgical test work to support the CME Phase 1 and Phase 2 optimization is underway at third-party testing facilities and will be released as available.
Alongside the CME mill optimization, a life of mine plan, including the currently unmined high-grade Reforma and El Rey deposits, will be evaluated. The CME, life of mine plan, and Mineral Reserve statement will be delivered in a Technical Report to be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, expected to be released in the second half of 2026.
Luca is evaluating the purchase of key long-lead-time items to support the timely delivery of the CME optimization project.
Luca’s CEO and Director, Dan Barnholden, said the initiation of the Campo Morado Expansion is a significant event for Luca and its shareholders. Barnholden said the company is targeting improved metal recoveries, particularly for precious metals, at what it expects could be a long-lived mining operation with increased production levels at expanded margins. Given existing processing facilities and mining operations at Campo Morado, the company anticipates that the CME may be implemented for a capital cost reflective of the brownfield nature of the project. He added that the company is pleased to partner with industry-leading processing and metallurgical engineers at Ausenco as it advances and derisks this opportunity at Campo Morado.
Phase 1 of the CME is being considered with the goal to achieve greater consistency in operational performance at the Campo Morado processing facilities, with improved pre-flotation, on-stream analysis of flotation concentration, and the addition of ultra-fine grinding capacity to achieve a target grind size of 8-10 microns (from current operational levels of a target regrind size of 15 microns).
The Phase 1 flowsheet at the Campo Morado mill is expected to reconfigure the current sequential flotation of copper and zinc concentrates to a bulk flotation of all sulphides, followed by additional regrinding to effectively separate sulphide species prior to a sequential flotation process to produce copper and zinc concentrates. The final tailings from this Phase 1 bulk flotation-regrinding flowsheet are expected to be primarily a pyrite concentrate containing gold and silver.
The company anticipates that the additional grinding capacity contemplated under the Phase 1 optimization will allow the current grinding capacity bottlenecks at the operation to be relieved. The company hopes that the study will prove that under this proposed flowsheet, overall mill throughput capacity at Campo Morado could materially increase. Luca and Ausenco are evaluating various proven grinding technologies in order to achieve targeted grind sizes under the CME, including both Glencore Technology’s IsaMill and vertical stirred mill options. Given existing grid power and transformer capacity at Campo Morado, the company does not expect power costs to be a primary sensitivity under the CME Phase 1 flowsheet.
Additional metallurgical testwork is ongoing both at Luca’s metallurgical laboratories and at independent third-party testing facilities to support the CME Phase 1 flowsheet. It is expected that these test results will be released in the first half of 2026.
Following the flotation of high-quality zinc and copper concentrates under the CME Phase 1 optimization, Ausenco will evaluate if a tailings product containing high grades of precious metals and consisting primarily of pyrite-associated gold and silver will be available for further processing.
Under the CME Phase 2, Ausenco will evaluate various conventional methodologies to recover gold and silver from this high-grade pyrite concentrate to produce a gold-silver doré at the mine. Currently at the Campo Morado operation, there is no gold leaching capacity and all precious metals produced are contained in concentrates with no existing doré production.
As a base case, CME Phase 2 will evaluate direct conventional cyanide leaching of this high-grade pyrite concentrate. The Phase 2 optimization is being evaluated to include the construction of leach tanks, counter current decantation filters, and a Merrill-Crowe process to recover gold and silver to doré.
Additional metallurgical testwork to support the CME Phase 2, including samples from the currently unmined high-grade Reforma and El Rey deposits at Campo Morado are being evaluated at both Luca’s metallurgical laboratories and at independent third-party testing facilities. Metallurgical test results will be released as they become available.
When considering the CME Phase 2 flowsheet, alternate gold recovery methods to direct cyanide leaching, including Glencore Technology’s Albion process and Pressure Oxidation will also be evaluated under trade-off analysis scenarios.
In parallel with the ongoing metallurgical and engineering studies to advance the CME, Luca is working with third-party consultants to update the Campo Morado mine plan to include, amongst other items, updated metal prices, updated ore characterization, optimized metals recovery assumptions, and recent drilling success at the mine. Luca expects to complete a life of mine plan and Mineral Reserve statement in a Technical Report to be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 in the second half of 2026.
As part of the mine plan update, all mineralized deposits at the operation will be evaluated in context of the current metals price environment and the potential benefits of the CME. In particular, the high-grade and unmined Reforma and El Rey deposits are expected to be included in the updated mine plan as Mineral Reserves.
Luca is working with Ausenco to derisk the timeline and execution of the CME optimization project. Efforts underway to ensure delivery of the project include:
- Ongoing metallurgical testwork at independent metallurgical laboratories, including ALS Environmental, located in Kamloops, BC
- Advanced procurement of long lead time items, including: Courier 6G SL Elemental Analyzer (Metso), Jameson cleaner flotation cell, regrinding mills, flotation cell mechanisms, as well as various pumps, tanks and filters
- Delivery of the CME optimization study and mine plan
- Establishment of a technical team to execute on the CME timeline and budget
Luca expects a significant portion of the capital for the CME Phase 1 and 2 could be funded from cash flow from existing operations; however, discussions with various capital providers will be advanced to secure funding when required to execute on the CME.
Although not expected to be a critical path item for the CME, advanced permitting efforts are underway to support required permit modifications and amendments.
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Ramon Mendoza Reyes, P.Eng., Chief Operating and Technical Officer at Luca Mining. Richard Whittering, Principal Process Engineer at Ausenco PTY Ltd., is acting as technical lead for Luca’s third-party independent consultant for the Campo Morado Expansion study.
Luca Mining Corp. is a Canadian mining company with two wholly owned mines located in the Sierra Madre mineralized belt in Mexico. These mines produce gold, copper, zinc, silver, and lead. The Company’s Campo Morado Mine hosts VMS-style, polymetallic mineralization within a large land package comprising 121 square kilometres. The Tahuehueto Mine is a large property of over 100 square kilometres in Durango State. Luca has successfully commissioned its mill and is now in commercial production at Tahuehueto.
Ausenco is a global company redefining what’s possible. Combining deep technical expertise with a 30-year track record, Ausenco delivers innovative, value-add consulting, studies, project delivery, asset operations and maintenance solutions to the minerals and metals and industrial sectors.
Source: Luca Mining Corp.
