Construction is progressing at the La India gold project in Nicaragua.

Metals Exploration has fully drawn a $27m (£20.39m) equipment loan for its La India mine in Nicaragua, where construction remains on course for first gold production in December 2026.

Its wholly owned subsidiary, La India Gold, drew the final $6.8m under the Banco de America Central financing package on 23 September.

The five-year facility will fund the initial CAT mining fleet and matures on 17 August 2031. It has a 12-month principal repayment grace period, followed by 48 equal monthly instalments of principal and interest.

The financing carries a variable interest rate, initially set at 7% per annum, with a minimum rate of 6.85% per annum, and is secured against La India Gold’s CAT mining fleet alongside a corporate guarantee.

Construction at the process plant continues, with key structural, mechanical, piping and electrical works advancing.

Installation milestones achieved since the previous update include completion of the process plant’s conveyors and the grinding building’s structural framework.

The oxygen plant installation has finished and major elements of the semi-autogenous grinding mill have been positioned.

The ball mill girth gear is being prepared for installation, in addition to ongoing works on the carbon-in-leach tanks and tailings storage facility lining.

Separately, at La Grecia, located 50km north-west of La India, Metals Exploration completed its maiden 2,450m drilling programme.

La Grecia is a historical gold mine, where Newcrest previously assayed 80 rock-chip samples averaging 18.84 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.

Hole LGDD-004 intersected 1.3m grading 36.5g/t gold from 155.4m, including 0.7m at 67.4g/t, and 1.9m at 6.03g/t from 164.7m, including 0.5m at 20.7g/t. LGDD-001 returned 0.65m at 3.96g/t gold from 120.85m.

Results from the remaining assays are expected in October 2026.

The company has begun a surface sampling and mapping campaign at La Grecia and plans to begin a follow-up drill programme in the first quarter of 2027.

Metals Exploration CEO Darren Bowden said: “Construction at La India continues to advance at pace across the process plant.

“At La Grecia, our initial scout drilling campaign has returned early but promising results, and we look forward to refining our geological model as additional assays are received ahead of the next planned drill programme.”