By Jorge Cirett                                             

During the 15^th week of the year (April 8^th to April 14^th, 2024), companies working in Mexico posted at least 29 press releases. Two companies released exploration results in their properties, while eight companies released production results for Q1 2024. Seven companies announced financing rounds for a total of C$18.4 M, one granted stock options, one more made a significant draw on its debt facility and one more is listing in the FSE. Three companies released drilling results from their advanced properties, one on new technical reports needed for its properties, and one more on the incoming drilling program. One company announced the appointment of a director. ON MEXICO ISSUES, the Northern Miner wrote that Mexico’s Supreme Court is likely to strike down the mining reforms by the current government. A federal court rejected the legal defense on the cancellation of the Sonora Lithium project concessions. ON EXPLORATION, Minaurum Gold reported metallurgical test results on Alamos; Silver Spruce obtained the drilling permit for the second round of drilling at Diamante. ON MINING, Fortuna Silver, Aura Minerals, Guanajuato Silver Company, Endeavour Silver, Orla Mining, GoGold Resources, Torex gold and Gatos Silver presented production results for Q1 2024. ON FINANCING, Kootenay Silver launched a “best efforts” public offering to raise up to C$5 M. Oroco Resource granted stock options. Silver Spruce announced a private placement to raise C$500 K. Silver Storm raised C$6.1 M. Endeavour Silver drew US$60 M from its US$120 M senior secured debt facility. Vortex Metals is to complete a non-brokered private placement to raise C$1.45 M. Prismo Metals listed its shares in the FSE. Tocvan Ventures is to raise C$2.25 M. Regency Silver upsized its non-brokered private placement to C$993.7 K. Silver Viper raised C$2.1 M on the closing of the first tranche of its financing round. ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Pan American Silver presented drilling results from La Colorada Skarn infill drilling in Zacatecas. Prime Mining released drilling results from Los Reyes, in Sinaloa. Defiance Silver is to prepare new technical reports for Tepal and San Acacio projects, in Jalisco and Zacatecas respectively. Goldgroup presented the first update on its operations and drilling results at Cerro Prieto, in Sonora. Centenario Gold is preparing to drill Eden, in Sinaloa. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Vizsla Silver announced an appointment to the board. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

• Henry Lazenby on the Northern Miner wrote that Mexico’s Supreme Court could strike down the president’s mining reforms next week. Here is the link to read on the nightmarish situation in Mexico under the current government for the mining industry: https://www.northernminer.com/news/mexicos-supreme-court-could-strike-down-presidents-mining-reforms-next-week/1003866150/
• The federal court rejected an amparo filed by Bacanora Lithium owned by the Chinese company Ganfeng Lithium to reverse the cancellation of its mining concessions in Sonora by the Ministry of Economy’s (SE) General Mining Directorate in September 2023.

ON EXPLORATION

• Minaurum Gold Inc. reported preliminary metallurgical testing results from composite core samples taken at the Promontorio and Europa targets at its Alamos silver project in Sonora. “Six separate composites were prepared including 3 from core samples at the Europa vein zone and 3 from core samples at the Promontorio vein zone. For each vein zone, the 3 composites were comprised of 1/4 cores corresponding from sample intervals with silver assays in ranges 150-250 g/t silver (low grade), 250-450 g/t silver (medium grade), and >450 g/t silver (high grade)”. Reported Au recoveries ranged from 46% to 96.5%, averaging 77.4%; Ag recoveries ranged between 68.2% to 94.3%, averaging 85.4%; Pb recoveries ranged from 21.3% to 82.2%, averaging 63.7%; Cu recoveries ranged between 43.5% and 81.87%, averaging 61.2%. Samples were processed at the Tecnológico de Metalurgia in Hermosillo and the Servicio Geológico Mexicano (SGM) lab in Chihuahua.
• Silver Spruce Resources Inc. along with partner Colibri Resource Corp. announced the approval of its Informe Preventivo by SEMARNAT (Environmental authority) for the second drill program at the Diamante project in Sonora. “Colibri will manage the planned 1,000 metre diamond drilling program from a select group of the permitted drill targets”.

ON MINING

• Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. reported production for the first quarter of 2024, including figures from its Mexican operations. At San Jose, in Oaxaca, 181.1 K tonnes were milled at an average rate of 2,182 tpd, grading 147 gpt Ag, 0.90 gpt Au, recovering 88.73% Ag, 86.76% Au, to produce 4,533 Oz Au, 759.1 K Oz Ag during the period. “The San Jose Mine has less operational flexibility in 2024 compared to 2023 due to the reduced and more dispersed Mineral Reserves associated with the Trinidad deposit. Production areas contain lower head grades and a higher presence of ferrous oxides in the upper levels, which impacted recoveries by approximately 2 percent in the quarter. The operation is experiencing cost pressures, mainly driven by a continued appreciation of the Mexican peso. The Company conducts regular assessments and trade-offs between maintaining operations and a care and maintenance option”.
• Aura Minerals Inc. announced preliminary production results from its mines, including figures from Aranzazu, in Zacatecas. During the period Aranzazu produced 25,001 Oz AuEq. “Production was 5% lower compared to Q4 2023 and 5% above Q1 2023 at constant metal prices, due to mine sequencing…”
• Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd. announced selected financial information and consolidated production results for 2023. During the year the company mined 600.3 K tonnes, milling 593.8 K tonnes to produce 1.76 M Oz Ag, 16,967 Oz Au, 3.55 M Lb Pb, 3.87 M Lb Zn, at cash cost $18.22 per Oz AgEq and an AISC of $22.91. Guanajuato Silver produced 74% more Ag, 52% more Au, 164% more Pb and 100% more Zn than in 2022. At the end of the period the company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.96 M and negative working capital of $18.44 M (El Cubo, Valenciana Complex, San Ignacio in Guanajuato; Topia in Durango).
• Endeavour Silver Corp. reported Q1 2024 production of 1.46 M Oz Ag, 10,133 Oz Au, or 2.3 M Oz AgEq. At Guanaceví, in Durango, 115 K tonnes were processed at a rate of 1,263 tpd, grading 402 gpt Ag, 1.25 gpt Au, recovering 89.9% Ag, 89.2% Au, to produce 1.33 M Oz Ag, 4,124 Oz Au. At Bolañitos, in Guanajuato, 106.8 K tonnes were processed at a rate of 1,174 tpd, grading 42 gpt Ag, 1.94 gpt Au, recovering 86.2% Ag, 90.2% Au, to produce 124.3 K Oz Ag, 6,010 Oz Au.
• Orla Mining Ltd. provided an interim operational update for Q1 2024. During the period 1.94 M tonnes of ore were mined and 872.6 K tonnes of waste moved at its Camino Rojo Oxide mine in Zacatecas, with a strip ratio of 0.45, stacking 1.8 M tonnes at an average rate of 19,597 tpd, grading 0.82 gpt Au, to produce 33,223 Oz Au. At the end of the period Orla had a $118.1 M cash position, with a total debt of $88.4 M, resulting in a net cash position of $29.7 M.
• GoGold Resources Inc. reported production for Q1 2024 of 138.7 K Oz Ag, 2,184 Oz Au, 93 tonnes Cu, 92 tonnes Zn, or 375.7 K Oz AgEq at its Parral tailings operations. “With the SART Zinc circuit commissioning completed, this marks the first quarter where Parral produced a saleable zinc product.”
• Torex Gold Resources Inc. reported Q1 2024 gold production of 115,494 Oz at its El Limón Guajes surface and underground operations in Guerrero. Average gold recovery at the processing plant was 90.7%, the highest to date. Throughput averaged 13,118 tpd.
• Gatos Silver Inc. announced production results for Q1 2024 at its Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua. During the period 292.1 K tonnes were processed at a rate of 3,210 tpd, grading 284 gpt Ag, 3.99% Zn, 1.77% Pb, 0.28 gpt Au, recovering 88.8% Ag, 61.4% Zn, 89.2% Pb, 52% Au, to produce 2.37 M Oz Ag, 15.8 M Lb Zn, 10.1 M Lb Pb, 1,390 Oz Au (or 3.7 M Oz AgEq) in lead and zinc concentrates.

ON FINANCING

• Kootenay Silver Inc. entered into an agreement with Red Cloud Securities Inc. to act as lead agent and sole bookrunner in connection with a “best efforts” public offering for gross proceeds of up to C$5 M (Columba, Chihuahua).
• Oroco Resource Corp. granted 6.23 M stock options to 33 directors, officers, employees and consultants at an exercise price of $0.75 per share (Santo Tomás, Sinaloa).
• Silver Spruce Resources Inc. announced a private placement to gather gross proceeds of up to C$500 K (Pino de Plata, Chihuahua).
• Silver Storm Mining Ltd. closed the second and final tranche of its oversubscribed non-brokered private placement offering for gross proceeds of C$4.63 M, including C$3 M investment from current significant shareholder Eric Sprott.  In aggregate the total gross proceeds in the two tranches added to C$6.1 M (La Parrila, Durango).
• Endeavour Silver Corp. announced the first drawdown of $60 M of the $120 M senior secured debt facility for the development of the Terronera mine in Jalisco. The key terms of the contracts include forward sales amounting to 68,000 Oz Au that have been executed at $2,325 per Oz, representing 55% of planned gold production on the first three years of operations, no silver hedge requirements and forward purchases of US$45 M equivalent Mexican peso over the remaining construction period at $16.56 per US dollar.
• Vortex Metals Inc. intends to complete a non-brokered private placement for total gross proceeds of C$1.45 M (Riqueza Marina, Oaxaca).
• Prismo Metals Inc. announced the listing of its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE). Prismo Metals shares are also cross listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange and on the OTCQB in the United States (Los Pavitos, Sonora).
• Tocvan Ventures Corp. arranged a non-brokered private placement with a lead order from an institutional investor for C$1.5 M. The company will complete a concurrent private placement for up to C$750 K to other eligible investors for aggregate gross proceeds of C$2.25 M (Pilar, Sonora).
• Regency Silver Corp. announced that it has closed a further C$215.2 K of a previously announced non-brokered private placement of $C800 K, upsizing it to a total of C$993.7 K (Dios Padre, Sonora).
• Silver Viper Minerals Corp. announced the closing of the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement financing pursuant to the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (LIFE) previously announced. Under the first tranche the company raised C$2.11 M in gross proceeds (La Virginia, Sonora).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

• Pan American Silver Corp. released results from the ongoing infill and geotechnical drill program at its La Colorada Skarn project, in Zacatecas. The results from eight drill holes (8,101 m) returned some of the highest-grade intercepts in the project. Highlighted core length intervals comprise 26.85 m @ 127 gpt Ag, 7.2% Pb, 11.1% Zn; 77.85 m @ 568 gpt Ag, 12.4% Pb, 9.6% Zn; 22.50 m @ 1,435 gpt Ag, 31.9% Pb, 20.5% Zn; 372.10 m @ 77 gpt Ag, 3.9% Pb, 5.8% Zn (including 83.85 m @ 172 gpt Ag, 8.5% Pb, 10.5% Zn); 60.00 m @ 80 gpt Ag, 4.0% Pb, 7.0% Zn (including 29.00 m @ 136 gpt Ag, 7.5% Pb, 12.8% Zn); 91.20 m @ 31 gpt Ag, 2.6% Pb, 5.0% Zn; 87.25 m @ 32 gpt Ag, 1.4% Pb, 3.9% Zn; 134.55 m @ 29 gpt Ag, 0.1% Pb, 6.6% Zn; 23.15 m @ 57 gpt Ag, 3.3% Pb, 5.6% Zn.
• Prime Mining Corp. reported expansion drilling results from its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Highlighted true width intervals from 15 holes at the Tahonitas area comprise 7.7 m @ 5.83 gpt Au, 143 gpt Ag (including 1.8 m @ 24.31 gpt Au, 555 gpt Ag; 16.9 m @ 1.21 gpt Au, 60 gpt Ag (including 4.5 m @ 2.41 gpt Au, 122 gpt Ag); 0.8 m @ 7.66 gpt Au, 1,260 gpt Ag. These intercepts may support pit expansion to the southeast near surface, and show that the Tahonitas structure mineralization continues for 350 m along strike from the southeast pit crest and enhances the potential to continue discovering high-grade ore shoots within the southeast strike extension and potential high-margin underground feed. Five drill rigs are currently active, and the company is targeting 40,000 m of drilling in 2024.
• Defiance Silver Corp. announced that the amendment needed on the Tepal project technical report cannot be done, as some of the sections requiring amendments were prepared by persons who are no longer qualified persons. Defiance will be working to prepare a new technical report to replace the current Tepal report. “As for its San Acacio project, work on the preparation of the new technical report is progressing well but has been delayed, notably, due to the site visit availability. The Company now expects to file this new technical report by the mid-May 2024” (Tepal, Jalisco; San Acacio, Zacatecas).
• Goldgroup Mining Inc. updated on its operations at its Cerro Prieto open pit, heap leach mine in Sonora. Goldgroup commenced mining operations at Cerro Prieto in 2013 with a resource of 8.22 M tonnes @ 0.81 gpt Au, 17.2 gpt Ag, 0.21% Pb, 0.54% Zn, which were mined by mid 2023. Additional mineralization has been mined during subsequent exploration, but not yet included in a published resource calculation. To date Cerro Prieto has produced 117,033 Oz Au, and production continues at a rate of 1,000 to 1,200 Oz Au per month. Mining was focused over a strike length of 1.6 Km in several pits, on a near vertical shear zone up to 65 m wide. Highlighted core length intercepts in 2023 include 19.70 m @ 1.03 gpt Au; 5.5 m @ 0.75 gpt Au; 20.98 m @ 1.02 gpt Au; 13.20 m @ 2.05 gpt Au; 4.50 m @ 1.16 gpt Au; 1.55 m @ 4.78 gpt Au; 24.96 m @ 0.69 gpt Au; 7.70 m @ 1.35 gpt Au; 17.97 m @ 1.13 gpt Au; 11.80 m @ 0.61 gpt Au; 4.25 m @ 1.07 gpt Au; 7.78 m @ 0.98 gpt Au; 11.67 m @ 1.16 gpt Au; 13.70 m @ 1.15 gpt Au; 13.70 m @ 1.15 gpt Au; 13.20 m @ 1.20 gpt Au; 43.89 m @ 0.43 gpt Au; 9.05 m @ 0.093 gpt Au. The company recently brought back into full service its 2,500 tpd crushing circuit, with an improvement in recoveries to 60% expected. Funding is being sought for a second full crushing circuit to double its current gold production.
• Centenario Gold Corp. announced the next phase of exploration on the Eden property in Sinaloa. The geological team lead by Alain Charest and Hermilo Mendoza outlined several new targets to drill-test across the Eden property, including the northern extension, the upper and deeper portions of the Buenavista epithermal vein system and other sub-parallel mineralized structures, especially the La Proveedora prospect 1.5 Km east of Buenavista. “The upper 100 meter portion of the Buenavista structure extends directly down dip from where the high grade Au and Ag surface sample as high as 239.9 g/t Au and 1390 g/t Ag were obtained”. Quartz textures and alteration minerals at 250 m depth are interpreted as part of the upper level of the epithermal systema, enhancing the probability of further mineralized zones at depth.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

• Vizsla Silver Corp. announced the appointment of Ms. Suki Gill as an independent director of the company effective immediately (Panuco, Sinaloa).  

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• No Relevant News.

On the image below: Quartz-barite-specularite vein on a project in the Sonoran Desert. Picture by Jorge Cirett.