Equinox halts output at Los Filos in Mexico

Equinox Gold (TSX:EQX) announced the indefinite suspension of operations at its Los Filos mine in Guerrero, Mexico.

The decision follows failed negotiations for a land access agreement with the community of Carrizalillo.

Shares of the miner fell 2.8% to $9.61 (US$6.73) in Tuesday afternoon trading in Toronto following the news, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $4.4 billion.

Discussions with all three communities local to the project began in November 2023, with Carrizalillo being the lone dissenter. Mezcala and Xochipala signed long-term agreements in January 2025.

The agreements, according to Equinox, ensure “the economic and investment conditions necessary for continued operations at the Los Filos mine, including the proposed construction of a new 10,000-ton-per-day carbon-in-leach processing plant to increase gold recoveries from higher-grade ore.”

Equinox is one of 15 companies – along with Pan American Silver (TSX: PAAS; NYSE: PAAS) and Lumina Copper – that chairman and mining entrepreneur Ross Beaty has founded during his 50-year career. Equinox’s latest mine, Greenstone in Ontario, began commercial production last year.

In February, Equinox agreed to buy Calibre Mining (TSX: CXB) for about $2.56 billion in stock to become Canada’s second-largest gold producer. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

Los Filos produced 170,369 ounces of gold in 2024 at an all-in sustaining cost of US$2,185 per ounce. The property is estimated to house reserves of 5.35 million oz. at 0.86 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and resources of about 7.9 million oz. at 0.75 g/t gold.

Total life-of-mine production is estimated at 3.97 million oz. of gold, peaking between 2025 and 2030 at an average production of 360,000 oz. per year.

Equinox has not included any production from the Los Filos mine in its 2025 production guidance.