Quartz-pyrite-FeOx stockwork veining

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 16^th week of the year (April 18^th to April 24^th, 2022), at least 13 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and three news published by the media, with four reporting resources and developments of their properties, three communicating production and financial results, three disclosing deals and corporate issues, three commenting on Mexican issues, two announcing financial issues, and one informing on exploration results. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Mexico Chamber of Deputies approved the initiative proposed by Andres Manuel López Obrador to reform the mining law on the nationalization of lithium. Fernando Alanís, Pro Secretary of the Confederation of the Industrial Chamber (CONCAMIN), declared that the project to reform the Mining Law to reserve the new concessions for the exploitation of lithium to the State is ambiguous and will add even more uncertainty and concern to investors. Armando Ortega, president of the Mining Task Force, of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CanCham) in Mexico, stated that the proposed reform of the Mining Law on lithium would violate Mexico’s commitments in international treaties.  ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Reyna Gold announced results from eight holes drilled at its flagship La Gloria project. ON MINING, Americas Gold and Silver reported Q1, 2022 production results from its Cosala mine in Sinaloa. First Majestic announced Q1, 2022 production results from their Mexican mine operations. Sierra Metals reported Q1, 2022 production results from their Bolivar and Cusi mines located in Chihuahua. ON FINANCING, Magna Gold announced completion of its debt settlement with PEAL de Mexico SA de CV (San Francisco mine, Sonora). Tarachi Gold amended the option agreement terms with Minerals de Tarachi (Magistral Mill and tailings project, Durango).  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Magna Gold announced Maiden Resource Estimate for its Margarita project in Chihuahua. Bear Creek filed a NI 43-101 technical report for its Mercedes mine in Sonora, which includes the Mineral Reserves and Resources as of December 31, 2021. Oroco released results from its ongoing drilling program at its Santo Tomas project in Sinaloa. Sonoro announced results from 15 holes drilled at the Colorado and Guadalupe zones within its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Benjamin Hill signed and investor relation agreement and granted incentive stock options to other contractors (Sonora Gold project, Sonora). Gatos Silver received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange as a result of its failure to timely file its annual report (Cerro Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua). Silver Wolf announced the appointment of a new member to its Technical Advisory Board (Ana Maria project, Durango).  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

• Mexico Chamber of Deputies approved the initiative proposed by Andres Manuel López Obrador to reform the mining law on the nationalization of lithium, with 275 votes in favor, 24 against and 187 abstentions. The reform contemplates the authorization of mining concessions with the exception of lithium, which will be administered directly by the Mexican State. López Obrador reiterated that his government will not allow foreigners to exploit lithium even if they have previous concessions. Instead, there will be a State company “to exploit, explore, extract, process, industrialize and sell it”.
• Fernando Alanís, Pro Secretary of the Confederation of the Industrial Chamber (CONCAMIN), declared that the project to reform the Mining Law to reserve the new concessions for the exploitation of lithium to the State is ambiguous and will add even more uncertainty and concern to investors. Despite the fact that Mexico is among the 10 largest producers worldwide of 17 minerals, being the first in silver and the eighth in gold, the mining industry has lost attractiveness for investment in recent years after the government suspension of mineral concessions, in addition to the high taxes paid by the sector in our country.
• Armando Ortega, president of the Mining Task Force, of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CanCham) in Mexico, stated that the proposed reform of the Mining Law on lithium would violate Mexico’s commitments in international treaties. He argued that minerals cannot be reserved, in this case, for the exclusive exploration and exploitation by the State, without having made the aforementioned reservation in the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC). From his point of view, reservations are areas of exclusion of obligations and commitments, and to do so without prior negotiation is arbitrary and prohibited. The CanCham argued that reserving lithium only for the exploration and exploitation of the Mexican State ex-post is in violation of both the provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as those corresponding to all Free Trade Agreements (FTA). ) signed by Mexico.

ON EXPLORATION

• Reyna Gold Corp., announced results from eight holes totalling 710m of its ongoing 10,000m drilling program conducted at its flagship La Gloria project, Sonora. Drilling highlights include hole LG-22-005 with 3.95 g/t Au over 7.85m, including 19.65 g/t Au over 1.3m; hole LG-22-001 with 0.51 g/t Au over 30.6m; hole LG-22-007 with 8.61g/t Au over 0.6m; and hole LG-22-008 with 4.13 g/t Au over 0.5m.

ON MINING

• Americas Gold and Silver Corporation reported Q1, 2022 production results from its Cosala mine in Sinaloa. The company produced 127K Oz Ag, 3.9M Lb Pb, and 9.6M Lb Zn. Americas expects to produce 0.7-0.9M Oz Ag, 36-40M Lb Pb, and 13-15M Lb Zn in the full year 2022.
• First Majestic Silver Corporation announced Q1, 2022 production results from their Mexican mine operations. Figures by  mine are shown in the table below:

• Sierra Metals Inc., reported Q1, 2022 production results from their Bolivar and Cusi mines located in Chihuahua. At Bolivar mine, the company processed 187,556 tonnes of 0.58% Cu, 11 g/t Ag, and 0.16 g/t Au with metallurgical recoveries of 85.12%,  88.44%, and 63.53% respectively, to produce 2M Lb Cu, 58K Oz Ag, and 592 Oz Au (2,6M Lb CuEq). At Cusi mine, Sierra metals processed 87,924 tonnes of 174 g/t Ag, 0.19 g/t Au, and 0.3% Pb with metallurgical recoveries of 85.37%, 49.94%, and 76.96% respectively, to produce 420K Oz Ag, 274 Oz Au, and 388K Lb Pb (458K Oz AgEq).
• Sonoro Gold Corp., announced results from 15 holes drilled at the Colorado and Guadalupe zones within its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora. Goal of this drill program is to increase the size and grade of the project´s oxide gold mineralization. Drilling highlights include hole SCR-289 with 0.56 g/t Au over 7.62m, including 1.38 g/t Au over 1.52m; hole SCR-293 with 0.87 g/t Au over 12.19m, including 3.62 g/t Au over 1.52m, plus 0.92 g/t Au over 6.10m, including 2.22 g/t Au over 1.53m, plus 2.26 g/t Au over 7.62m, including 10.25 g/t Au over 1.53m; hole SCR-296 with 0.67 g/t Au over 7.62m, including 1.83 g/t Au over 1.53m, plus 0.42 g/t Au over 6.1m, including 1 g/t Au over 1.52m; hole SCR-299 with 9.02 g/t Au over 10.67m, including 15.56 g/t Au over 6.10m; and hole SCR-301 with 0.49 g/t Au over 10.67m, including 1.79 g/t Au over 1.53m.

ON FINANCING

• Magna Gold Corp., announced completion of its debt settlement with PEAL de Mexico SA de CV. the company has issued an aggregate of 1,660,132 common shares in the capital of the company at a deemed price of $0.76 per Common Share to PEAL de Mexico S.A. de C.V., in settlement of outstanding debt in the aggregate amount of USD 1M (San Francisco mine, Sonora).
• Tarachi Gold Corp., amended the option agreement terms with Minerales de Tarachi , resulting in a significant reduction in future cash obligations. A comparison of the original and amended option terms can be found in the table below:

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

• Magna Gold Corp., announced Maiden Resource Estimate for its Margarita project in Chihuahua. Indicated resources using a cut-off of 75 g/t Ag are 1.854M tonnes of 205 g/t Ag to contain 12.22M Oz Ag and inferred resources are 0.45M tonnes of 153 g/t Ag to contain 2.24M Oz Ag. The deposit includes a well defined high grade core of 0.78M tonnes of 332 g/t Ag for a total of 8.32M Oz Ag contained. Magna reported that mineralization at Margarita is open in all directions and at depth. It also informed that the drill program discovered and confirmed multiple parallel vein systems most notable of which were the Juliana and Caido veins. The company plans to conduct follow-up drilling to define additional resources in these parallel vein systems. The current resource estimate only includes mineralization in the main Margarita vein.
• Bear Creek Mining Corporation filed a NI 43-101 technical report for its Mercedes mine in Sonora, which includes an independent audit of the Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources as of December 31, 2021. Measured + Indicated Mineral Resources (exclusive of Mineral Reserves) are 2.98M tonnes of 4 g/t Au and 36 g/t Ag to contain 384K Oz Au and 3.5M Oz Ag; and Inferred Resources of 884K tonnes of 4.5 g/t Au and 41 g/t Ag to contain 128K Oz Au and 1.17M Oz Ag. Proven + Probable Mineral Reserves are 2.2M tonnes of 3.75 g/t Au and 29 g/t Ag to contain 267K Oz Au and 2.1M Oz Ag.
• Oroco Resource Corp., released results from its ongoing drilling program conducted on the North Zone within its Santo Tomas project in Sinaloa. Drilling highlights include hole N010 with 0.36% Cu, 0.011% Mo, 0.03 g/t Au, and 2 g/t Ag (0.42% CuEq) over 311m; hole N011 with 0.39% Cu, 0.007% Mo, 0.04 g/t Au, and 3 g/t Ag (0.45% CuEq); and hole N012 with 0.35% Cu, 0.015% Mo, 0.02 g/t Au, and 3 g/t Ag (0.41% CuEq) over 296.9m. “The 2021-2022 drill program in the North Zone has now spanned 900 m of strike length along the core of the mineral deposit”. Holes N013 to N016 in the North Zone and B001 to B004 in the Brasiles Zone are completed and constitute an additional 6,205 m of drilling from which assays have yet to be generated.  To date, the 20 drill holes that have been completed at Santo Tomas (16 in the North Zone) total 14,838 m of diamond drilling, mainly in HQ core size.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

• Benjamin Hill Mining Corp., signed and investor relation agreement with Pacificquest Communications Corp., for a term of one year. In connection with the agreement, the company granted 200K options exercisable at $0.50 per common share having a term of 3 years and subject to vesting of 25% of the options each calendar quarter over a one-year period.   The company also granted 100K incentive stock options to other contractors exercisable at $0.50 per common share having a term of 3 years and subject to vesting of 25% of the options each calendar quarter over a one-year period.   (Sonora Gold project, Sonora).
• Gatos Silver Inc., received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as a result of its failure to timely file its annual report. “In accordance with Section 802.01E of the NYSE Listed Company Manual, the NYSE will closely monitor the status of the Company’s late filing and related public disclosures for up to six months from the date of the filing delinquency”  (Cerro Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua).
• Silver Wolf Exploration Ltd., announced the appointment of a new member to its Technical Advisory Board (Ana Maria project, Durango).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• No relevant news

Content like what you have just read can be seen at https://gambusinoprospector.com/ and at LinkedIn’s Mexico Mineral Exploration Group.

On the picture above, quartz-py-FeOx stockwork veining in an intrusive in Guanajuato, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.