Thank you, Tamara, for the introduction. Yes, we're very proud to have Tamara as one of our directors on what I would characterize as a reasonably legendary Board of Directors. I was just sitting with John Hathaway, and he asked me to say hello specifically to you, Tamara, so hello from John Hathaway. Today, I'll talk to you about Orla Mining. We are a gold producer of choice, and today I'm gonna be talking to you about our future and what you can expect. Since I'm gonna be talking about the future, you can expect me to make some forward-looking statements and ask you to reference this cautionary language that's available on our website. Okay, with the forward-looking stuff behind us, we can start talking about the future.
Our formula for growth and value creation is based upon three things: a proven strategy, a depth of assets that can support that strategy, and a group of reputable partners. I'm gonna walk you through each of those three pillars. Starting with the strategy, we believe we have a model for industry-leading growth. We have an established track record of development and operating success. We are producing gold and generating cash consistently. We are developing low-complexity oxide projects. We have advanced large-scale sulfide assets that we'll bring into development next, and we're expanding our large prospective land packages, most recently through the acquisition of Contact Gold, so that we have lots of ground to explore. And finally, when the opportunity presents itself, we will transact and have transacted as recently as 2022, acquiring Gold Standard Ventures and, more recently, Contact Gold.
So what underpins that strategy is the resources to generate value. We have a depth of assets that can generate that value in Nevada, Mexico, and an exploration asset that's in Panama. All three locations share three virtues. First, each of them has a high-margin oxide project that, as exemplified in Mexico, generates tremendous cash for the company. Each location has sulfide resources that we can grow into and expand the company. And finally, each location has tremendous land package on very prospective ground that we continuously explore to not only add to our resource base, but also make new discovery for investors. I'll talk about the 12 drills we have turning today.
And finally, all of that is supported by a very reputable group of shareholders that have been not only part of the growth of Orla, but have participated in the value that we have created. We're proud to have important individuals like Prem Watsa and Pierre Lassonde, big companies like Newmont and Agnico Eagle, and key institutions like Fidelity, Franklin, and others. All of these participants have been supporters of the company for a long period of time, and we're proud of the value we've generated for them, and we look forward to creating more value in the future. Orla has a short history, but it is a history of success and overachievement. Beginning in 2016 and 2017, we put together our first two assets.
From 2019 through 2021, we permitted, financed, and constructed our first mine under budget and on time during a global pandemic. More recently, we've grown the company through our acquisition in Nevada and our exploration projects in both Mexico and Nevada. Our mission is to transform resources into a net positive benefit for all stakeholders. Our stakeholders include, of course, the investors I just spoke about, but also our employees, the nations and communities where we operate. We endeavor to do that through minimizing impacts, injuries, and consumption, maximizing the opportunities for those stakeholders, and managing those relationships with extreme care. Throughout, we transparently report on our performance on all of that.
We believe we can drive shareholder value through the proper application of ESG principles, and we'd ask you to refer to our latest sustainability report, which outlines our performance on this subject and our ambitions for the future. Why am I talking about 2023 and the third quarter of 2024? Because it exemplifies the operating consistency that you can expect from Orla. In 2023 and 2022, and again this year, we have increased our production guidance. We continue to generate tremendous cash flow from our asset in Mexico. Here's 2024, another year of consistent delivery. After the second quarter, we increased our production guidance to between 120 to 130 thousand ounces and lowered our costs to between $800 and $900, all in.
All of that combined generates tremendous free cash flow that we're using to grow the business across our portfolio. Here's a snapshot of our current picture with over $150 million in cash, constantly reducing debt quarter over quarter by repaying it. It is a revolver that is available to us in the future. We have been performing. In terms of investment in the company to grow the business through our own cash, last year and this year, we are investing $47 million, close to $50 million a year, in our growth projects and exploration. Starting with exploration, and as I mentioned, we have 12 drills currently turning. Starting with exploration in Nevada, we'll spend about $14 million. Our exploration program in Mexico, $23 million.
Those 12 drills that are operating in those two nations are working on two things: expanding the resources that we already have and exposing our investors to potential discoveries on our land packages in both those countries. Our growth projects are also advancing through the investments that we're making, over $10 million a year invested in environmental permitting, engineering studies, resource development to grow our production profile in the years to come. The company was begun on our foundational asset, the Camino Rojo oxide mine in Mexico. This is a high-margin mine that operates at one of the lowest costs in the industry, and the combination of that production cadence with that cost profile means that we generate comfortably over $100 million a year that we can invest in the business.
The next stage of growth in Mexico, below that oxide mine that I just described, is the continuation of the deposit into the sulfide resource. The combination of the oxide resources and the sulfide resources are over fifteen million gold equivalent ounces, and we are just scratching the surface of the oxide mine on top. Over the past three years, we have been drilling into the sulfide resource to outline the high-grade core, which we have now defined as of the end of last year, and we'll be able to publish a resource on that by the end of this year.
That will set up the development plan for the sulfide development, simultaneous with the oxide open-pit mine, through an underground development program that we will begin engineering next year, potentially starting a ramp as early as next year or at latest 2026 , to begin to create the dual production streams in Mexico out of the oxide and sulfide programs. The newest discovery is below that sulfide resource. So last year, when we were defining the high-grade corridor of the sulfide resource, we pushed a few holes deeper and discovered a number of things. First of all, the beautiful Camino Rojo deposit that is currently over 15 million gold equivalent ounces, continues at depth, so that was an important discovery. The next thing we discovered is that the grades, as you can see on this slide, for gold are also increasing with depth.
Finally, as we go deeper, we continue to intersect more and more polymetallic skarn and mantos-type mineralization. In our case, that includes silver, zinc, and most recently, copper. This extension of the Camino Rojo deposit will form an important additive to any underground development for the sulfides, and we look forward to continuing to drill this out and continuing to add to the portfolio of the future sulfide development. All of those resources that I've been talking about, that 15 million gold equivalent ounces, are on that one dot labeled Camino Rojo on the slide. We also have 140,000 hectares of concessions that we control surrounding that great deposit, and we have just begun exploring in these other locations. Some of the initial results from Guanamero shown on this slide.
We are excited to drill the other 15 targets over the years to come that are on this slide. Not only adding resources that we can develop, but also exposing our investors to the discovery. Moving on to Nevada, this is our next growth project. We bought GSV in 2022 because it was a replica of what we had in Mexico. On the property already, a high-margin oxide project that we are currently permitting and will be constructing in 2026, and additionally, exposes us to the prolific Carlin Trend, now with over 25,000 hectares, a 25km contiguous land package south of some of the largest gold mines in the world. This is what we picked up.
As you can see on the left, the left-hand side of the screen, our land package at the bottom, underneath some of those big deposits that we would all be familiar with. We have continued to expand this land package, most recently picking up Contact Gold, the blue section shown on the right-hand side. And as you can see here, the oxide mine, represented by Pinion and Dark Star pits, are surrounded by numerous other targets that have not only more oxide ounces, but also sulfide opportunities. So hopefully, you're noticing a theme with Orla: develop high-margin, cash-generative oxide projects, and then grow into larger sulfide developments, all the while exploring for more. The pathway to production for the oxide mine in Nevada, we are currently completing the environmental reports for BLM.
We have completed fifteen of the nineteen requisite reports through the second stage of review by BLM. The remaining four are in first stage of review by BLM. We will continue that process through next year. Next year, we will also begin construction engineering, long lead time procurement.... and long, large contract signatures, so that when we start moving dirt in 2026, we can have the same kind of success we had in Mexico. We built the mine in Mexico in fourteen months. We estimate about a year and a half to build this one, similar style as the one we built in Mexico. So to wrap up, I think we have the resources, the team, and the supporters, including our board and shareholders, to create tremendous value and grow this company into the future. Our formula for value creation is working.
We'll continue to deploy our strategy on the assets that we have, supported by the partners that we have, to create value for shareholders. And at that stage, I think I've got about a minute left for questions.
Excellent. Any questions in the room?
Congratulations on the performance of the stock.
Thank you.
It's, it's been tough in this industry, so that, that's already positive. The project work that you're doing, most of these projects, on the research that I've done, I've been a lifelong consultant and now in the mining industry, over the past year, and consultant for 18 years. Man, it's pretty impressive to get these projects on time. McKinsey study was done that shows 85% of these projects never. They're either over budget or cost overruns. What was one of the key, some key things that you've done to deliver that project on time, that construction project?
Well, thanks for the question. The first thing I'll offer is the humility that it's tough to build mines. It is really tough to build mines. I've built many of them, and I can tell you it's not an easy occupation, but that's where we create value. If you can do it skillfully, and Orla has demonstrated that, that's where we can create value for investors. So to your question of how we do it, I think that's important, in consideration of how we're gonna do the next one. So Camino Rojo, we did a lot of early engineering. We did most of the procurement ahead of the final permit so that we had the material on the ground, the contracts in hand, so that we could hit the ground running.
We're gonna replicate that in Nevada next year, as I spoke about, beginning that construction engineering, updated the market on what they can expect from us, what we're gonna build, how much it's gonna cost, and then frankly, it's just the diligence of being on-site and seeing it through to completion. You know, the mine I built in for Torex is an example of that. The mine we built for Orla is an example of that. And it's, you know, it's not an easy job, but it's a job that we have a team. Our COO built Young-Davidson. I've built a few mines myself.
So we're of a team that has carved out a part of this industry, where we feel we can create value, which is taking resources that wonderful geologists and explorers have either found or our geologists and explorers can find, and then building mines to create value. That has resulted in a 500% return over the last six years. Thanks.
Thank you very much, Jason. No problem. Perfect timing.
Cheers.
Appreciate it. Thank you.