MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA — Triton to expand at Limon gold project

With a goal of 83,000 oz. per year for 1997, Triton Mining (TTM-T) has announced it will expand operations at its Limon gold project in western Nicaragua.

Triton expects to step up the development of its Talavera underground mine, using a North American mining contractor. At the same time, it will begin underground development of the Santa Emilia deposit.

Both these underground mines can send higher-grade ores to Triton’s Limon mill, boosting the average feed grade.

Severe rains in early September caused a motor to fail in the mill’s grinding circuit. Since other mill maintenance was already scheduled for mid-September and early October, the shutdown was used as an opportunity to perform all the required work.

The mill has been back up and running for about six weeks, and Triton expects that increasing the proportion of underground ore going to the mill should make up for the shortfall in production.

Triton’s net loss for the six months ended June 30 was $3.1 million (or 16 cents per share) on $9.59 million in revenue. For the comparable period in 1995, net loss was $1.9 million (15 cents per share) on $6.31 million.