McEwen Mining starts gold production at Mexico mine

Sept 24 (Reuters) - Canadian gold producer McEwen Mining Inc began production at its El Gallo mine in Mexico, and said phase I of the mine is expected to produce 10,000 ounces of the metal during the rest of the year.

The company, which completed a feasibility study for phase II on Sept. 10, forecast 2013 phase I annual production at 30,000 ounces.

The Mexico mine is the company's second mine to start production after the San José mine in Argentina.

Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,764.81 an ounce at 1341 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down $11.20 an ounce at $1,766.80.

Shares of the company, which was earlier known as US Gold Corp, were down 3 percent at C$4.59 on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.