09:16 AM EDT, 03/12/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Soma Gold ( SMAGF ) said earlier Thursday that its El Limon mill in Colombia has received the first delivery of mined material from the Diamantina mine, the first small mine that completed a formalization process under Colombian law.

Diamantina was the first of 24 small mines undergoing formalization, and the company expects the other mines to start supplying material to El Limon later this year.

Soma said supply from these sources may be processed at the El Limon mill or at the El Bagre mill, where ore sorting equipment is expected to be installed and tested by mid-2026. The company expects full commercialization of the ore sorting technology in the second half of this year. Once operational, the ore sorting system is expected to increase throughput at El Bagre from 450 tonnes per day (tpd) to 700-750 tpd.

Meanwhile, Soma said the final permit submission for the Nechi mine is about 95% complete, with approval anticipated before the end of the year. Nechi is expected to provide an additional 250 tpd of feed to El Bagre, resulting in incremental production of about 25,000 gold equivalent ounces per year.

Soma also confirmed that it produced 18,670 gold equivalent ounces in 2025, below expectations due to a two-month work stoppage and difficulties in restarting operations following the strike.

Shares in Soma were down 1.9% in Canada yesterday.