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The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Fourth Week of February, 2023.

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By Miguel A Heredia

During the 8th week of the year (February 20th to February 26th, 2023), at least 23 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with ten reporting resources and developments of their properties, six communicating production and financial results, two informing on exploration results, two commenting on Mexican issues, one disclosing deals and corporate issues, one announcing financing issues, and one discussing social issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Almaden regretted the decision of Mexico´s Ministry of Economy to deny the two mineral title applications which were first made by Almaden in 2002 and 2008, and which in turn led to the grant of mineral titles in 2003 and 2009, respectively. GoGold, Bear Creek, GR Silver, and Guanajuato Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the fourth week of February, 2023. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Tocvan released results from surface channel sampling of selected area for a bulk sample at its Pilar project.  In Coahuila, Monumental Minerals provided an update and defined drill targets at its Jemi Heavy Earth Rare Element project. ON MINING, Coeur reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. Starcore announced Q3, 2023 production results from its San Martin mine in Queretaro. Equinox provided 2023 guidance for its Los Filos mine in Guerrero. Bear Creek announced 2023 production guidance for its Mercedes mine in Mexico. Gatos Silver released 2023 production and cost guidance for its Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua. First Majestic reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from their Mexican mine operations. ON FINANCING, Silver Tiger closed its previously announced bought deal offering for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $18M (El Tigre project, Sonora). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, GoGold reported additional drilling results from Los Ricos South, within the Eagle and Main Deposits in Jalisco. Guanajuato Silver announced drill results from its San Ignacio mine in Guanajuato. Alamos Gold reported Mineral Reserves and Resources for the year-ended 2022 at its Mulatos project, Sonora. Bear Creek released results of recent drilling from its Marianas and Rey de Oro deposits at its Mercedes mine in Sonora. Chesapeake announced updated Minera Resource Estimate for its world class Metates deposit in Durango.  Minera Alamos informed the commencement of drilling at its Santana project in Sonora. GR Silver reported underground drilling results from 35 holes drilled as part of the 2022 infill and exploratory drilling program conducted at its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. Silver Dollar identified five new mineralized target areas at its la Joya project in Durango. Regency Silver announced that two follow-up holes down-dip were completed at its Dios Padre project in Sonora. Vizsla provided a year-end 2022 summary of its activities carried out at its flagship Panuco project in Sinaloa.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Minera Alamos granted stock options to its management team, Board of Directors, and certain consultants (Santana project, Sonora).  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Almaden signed a cooperation agreement with the Ejido Santa Maria Zotoltepec, the ejido located closest to its Ixtaca project in Puebla.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Almaden Minerals Ltd., regretted the decision of Mexico´s Ministry of Economy to deny the two mineral title applications which were first made by Almaden in 2002 and 2008, and which in turn led to the grant of mineral titles in 2003 and 2009, respectively. These mineral titles underpin the Ixtaca deposit which was discovered by Almaden in 2010. As previously reported, these mineral titles were reduced to application status as a result of an early 2022 decision of Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN). Almaden believes that this action by the Secretariat of Economy is inconsistent with the Mexican Mining Law, the SCJN decision, and international law. The Company expects to submit arguments challenging the Secretariat of Economy’s submissions to the District Court within the next few days.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., Bear Creek Mining Corporation, GR Silver Mining Ltd, and Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the fourth week of February, 2023. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Tocvan Ventures Corp., released results from surface channel sampling of selected area from an up to 1,000 tonnes of oxide-gold bulk sample at its Pilar project in Sonora. Channel sampling was completed every 5m perpendicular to exposed mineralization and alteration at surface along the Main Zone and 4-T trends. Eight locations were sampled to test varying levels of exposed mineralization, all eight trench locations returned anomalous gold and silver values. Highlights include TR-2023-001 where seven samples over a 35m trend returned an average grade of 2.2 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag, ranging from 8.3 g/t Au to 0.1 g/t Au; TR-2023-002 where five samples over a 20m trend returned  an average grade of 2.8 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag, ranging from 7.1 g/t Au to 0.7 g/t Au; and TR-23-007 where five samples along a 25m trend returned an average grade of 2.2 g/t Au and 30 g/t Ag ranging from 7.3 g/t Au to 0.1 g/t Au. “Bulk Sample material will be extracted and prepared for processing by heap-leach method at a private mining operation less than 25km to the west of Pilar”.
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., provided an update and defined drill targets at its Jemi heavy earth rare element project, located in Coahuila State. The exploration program carried out by the exploration team of the company consisted of detailed mapping and rock sampling, regional stream sediment sampling, ground radiometric geophysical surveys, and lithogeochemical sampling. The exploration effort has been focused on the Jemi dikes and Veladora Norte areas, which host peralkaline intrusion related REE mineralization. “Of the 188 samples with assay results, over one third (76 samples) returned values greater than 0.15% total rare earth oxide (TREO), including 5 samples that returned values greater than 1.0% TREO to a maximum value of 2.4% TREO. The average TREO for all samples is 0.21%, and a minimum value of 9 parts per million (ppm), which was returned in an iron-oxide/calcite vein”. This rock sampling has defined a series of high priority drill targets.

ON MINING

  • Coeur Mining Inc., reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. On Q4, 2022 the company milled 554,247 tonnes of 1.59 g/t Au and 98 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of  92.4% and 85% respectively to produce approximately 26K Oz Au and 1.49M Oz Ag. It sold 25.2K Oz Au and 1.49M Oz Ag at an average realized price of USD $1,519 per Oz Au and USD $21.10 per Oz Ag. Coeur reported metal sales of USD $69.5.4M; cost applicable to sales (CAS) of USD $47.1M; adjusted CAS per Oz Au of USD $1,027 and adjusted CAS per Oz Ag of USD $14.23; exploration expense of USD $1.5M; cash flow from operating activities of USD $18.9M; total capital expenditures of USD $8.1M; and free cash flow of USD $10.8M. On the full year 2022,  Coeur milled approximately 2.2M tonnes of 1.65 g/t Au and 113 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 92.1% and 84.2% respectively to produce approximately 106.8K Oz Au and 6.71M Oz Ag. It sold 107.1K Oz Au and  6.7M Oz Ag at an average realized price of USD $1,471 per Oz Au and USD $21.78 per Oz Ag. Coeur reported metal sales of USD $303.4M; cost applicable to sales (CAS) of USD $1822.6M; adjusted CAS per Oz Au of USD $883 and adjusted CAS per Oz Ag of USD $13.05; exploration expense of USD $6.6M; cash flow from operating activities of USD $88.4M; total capital expenditures of USD $42.6M; and free cash flow of USD $45.8M.
  • Starcore International Mines Ltd., announced Q3, 2023 production results from its san martin mine in Queretaro. The company milled 58,562 tonnes of 1.29 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 85.24% and 48.95% respectively to produce 2,182 Oz AuEq.
  • Equinox Gold Corp., provided 2023 guidance for its Los Filos mine in Guerrero. The company expects to produce between 160K-180K Oz Au at cash and all includes sustaining cost of USD $1,460-USD $1,620 and USD $1,680-USD $1,865 per Oz Au produced respectively; and a sustaining cost of USD $40M.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation announced 2023 production guidance for its Mercedes mine in Mexico. The company expects to produce 65K-75K Oz Au and 210K-243K Oz Ag during 2023 at an average cash cost per Oz Au in the range of  $830-$890 , and all in sustaining cost of $1,120-$1,290 per Oz Au.
  • Gatos Silver Inc., released 2023 production and cost guidance for its Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua. The company expects to produce between 7.4-8.2M Oz Ag, 57-63M Lb Zn in Zn concentrates, 36-40M Lb Pb in Pb concentrates, and 5.4-6.2K Oz Au in Pb concentrates (or 12.4-13.8M Oz AgEq). All in sustaining cost for silver production and silver equivalent production has been estimated in USD $11-13 and USD $15.50-17.50 per Oz payable respectively. Gatos Silver also estimated sustaining capital expenditures at USD $45M; and exploration and definition drilling expenditures at USD $13M, including drilling of the south-east deep zone and district exploration.
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., reported Q4 and full year 2022 production and financial results from their Mexican mine operations. The tables below show figures by mine for the period Q4 and full year 2022:

ON FINANCING

  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., closed its previously announced bought deal offering of 58.1M of common shares at a price of CADS $0.31 per share for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $18M. Gross proceeds will be used to continue advancement of its El Tigre mine in Sonora, and for general corporate purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • GoGold Resources Inc., reported additional drilling results from Los Ricos South, within the Eagle and Main Deposits in Jalisco. Drilling highlights include hole LRGAG-22-110 on the Eagle Deposits with 1.43 g/t Au and 43 g/t Ag (2 g/t AuEq or 150 g/t AgEq) over 62.4m, including 4.57 g/t Au and 71 g/t Ag (5.52 g/t AuEq or 414 g/t AgEq) over 16m, including 17.05 g/t Au and 189 g/t Ag (19.57 g/t AuEq or 1,468 g/t AgEq) over 1.4m; hole LRGAG-22-113 on the Eagle Deposit with 3.29 g/t Au and 358 g/t Ag (8.06 g/t AuEq or 605 g/t AgEq), including 20.05 g/t Au and 2,000 g/t Ag (46.72 g/t AuEq or 3,504 g/t AgEq) over 1.8m, including 40 g/t Au and 3,490 g/t Ag (86.53 g/t AuEq or 6,490 g/t AgEq) over 0.8m, plus 2.32 g/t Au and 58 g/t Ag (3.09 g/t AuEq or 232 g/t AgEq) over 29.5m, including 5.20 g/t Au and 72 g/t Ag (6.16 g/t AuEq or 462 g/t AgEq) over 12.3m, including 21.10 g/t Au and 170 g/t Ag (23.37 g/t AuEq or 1,752 g/t AgEq) over 1m; hole LRGAG-22-115 on the Eagle Deposit with 1.44 g/t Au and 75 g/t Ag (2.45 g/t AuEq or 183 g/t AgEq) over 31.5m, including 3.38 g/t Au and 147 g/t Ag (5.34 g/t AuEq or 400 g/t AgEq) over 11m, including 12.85 g/t Au and 64 g/t Ag (13.70 g/t AuEq or 1,028 g/t AgEq) over 1; and hole LRGAG-22-227 on the Main Deposit with 1.28 g/t Au and 105 g/t Ag (2.68 g/t AuEq or 201 g/t AgEq) over 29m, including 4.84 g/t Au and 352 g/t Ag (9.54 g/t AuEq or 715 g/t AgEq) over 6.3m, including 24 g/t Au and 335 g/t Ag (28.47 g/t AuEq or 2,135 g/t AgEq) over 0.7m. The Eagle Deposit adjoins the Main Deposit and represents a northern extension of the previously defined Mineral Resource Estimate in the Los Ricos South PEA.
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., announced drill results from its San Ignacio mine in Guanajuato. Drilling highlights include hole UGSI22-005, the best drill hole the company has drilled at any of its mines acquired from Great Panther, with 5.11 g/t Au and 810 g/t Ag (1,219 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 4.92m, including 25.84 g/t Au and 4,914 g/t Ag (6,981 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.42m, including 28.23 g/t Au and 1,693 g/t Ag (3,951 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.42m. This significant drill result on the Melladito vein will be followed up with additional drill holes attempting to follow the down dip extension of the vein within the Company’s 2023 drill campaign. In addition, the company is in the midst of driving a 400m access ramp from Melladito to the analogous Purisima vein, which offers the potential for expanded production at San Ignacio mine. Guanajuato Silver also confirmed that it will provide an updated mineral resource estimate which is expected to be completed by Q3, 2023.
  • Alamos Gold Inc., reported Mineral Reserves and Resources for the year-ended 2022 at its Mulatos project, Sonora. The company reported Proven + Probable Mineral Reserves of 26,734,000 tons with an average grade of 1.95 g/t Au for a total of 1,679,000 Oz Au contained. Alamos Gold also announced Measured + Indicated Mineral Resources (exclusive of Mineral Reserves) for 10,302,000 tonnes of 2.52 g/t Au for a total of 502K Oz Au contained, and Inferred Resources for 1,774,000 tonnes of 1.27 g/t Au for a total of 72K Oz Au contained. In addition, the company has budgeted a total of USD $17M for exploration in 2023. This budget comprises 16,000m of surface exploration drilling at Puerto del Aire, Gap Victor, and Estrella Zones, and 34,000m for regional exploration on high priority targets, including Halcon, Halcon West, Carricito, Bajios, and Jaspe.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation released results of recent underground drilling from its Marianas and Rey de Oro deposits at its Mercedes mine in Sonora. Drilling highlights (reported in true widths) include hole UG-MR22-105 collared on Marianas Deposit with 5.68 g/t Au and 6 g/t Ag over 2.8m, plus 12.43 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag over 2.8m; hole UG- MR22-106 on Mariana Deposit with 41 g/t Au and 24 g/t Ag over 0.8m; hole UG-MAR22-113 on Mariana Deposit with 8.47 g/t Au and 32 g/t Ag over 3m, plus 5.02 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag over 3m; hole  UG-RDO23-075 collared on Rey de Oro Deposit with 10.23 g/t Au and 182 g/t Ag over 3.5m; hole UG-RDO22-077 on Rey de Oro Deposit with 15.35 g/t Au and 109 g/t Ag over 1.03m; and hole M22-934D on GAP Deposit with 6.47 g/t Au and 58 g/t Ag over 2.2m. “The Marianas and GAP drilling represent step-outs from the existing underground mining operations along the main Mercedes vein zone.  The Rey de Oro drilling represents extensions downdip and along strike of the existing reserves and underground operations”.
  • Chesapeake Gold Corp., announced updated Minera Resource Estimate (MRE) for its world class Metates deposit in Durango. The updated MRE incorporates an additional 23 holes drilled by Chesapeake and has an effective date of January 28, 2023.  It include Measured + Indicated Resources for 921.2M tonnes with average grades of 0.57 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag for a total of 16.77M Oz Au and 423.2M Oz Ag contained, and Inferred Resources for 139.5M tonnes with average grades of 0.47 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag for a total of 2.13M Oz Au and 59 M Oz Ag contained. “This updated MRE together with on-going metallurgical work will form the basis of a new Pre-Feasibility Study”.
  • Minera Alamos Inc., informed the commencement of drilling at its Santana project in Sonora. The company plans to drill a number of gold bearing breccia pipes in the cluster that comprise the Santana project. Some of these priority targets such as Zata and Benjamin Hill have never been drilled before. Over 10,000m of drilling in up to 80 holes have been planned by the company`s exploration team to drill-test the targets.
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., reported underground drilling results from 35 holes drilled as part of the 2022 infill and exploratory drilling program conducted at its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. Drilling highlights ( reported in true widths) include hole PLIP22-30 with 69 g/t Ag, 2.67 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, 0.2% Zn, and 0.2% Cu (353 g/t AgEq) over 14.1m, including 227 g/t Ag, 5.39 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, 0.6% Zn, and 0.4% Cu (808 g/t AgEq) over 1.6m, including 219 g/t Ag, 40.18 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 1% Cu (4,075 g/t AgEq) over 0.6m; hole PLIP22-52 with 2 g/t Ag and 1.91 g/t Au (182 g/t AgEq) over 8.1m, including 33 g/t Ag and 64.5 g/t Au (6,033 g/t AgEq) over 0.2M; hole PLIP22-29 with 55 g/t Ag, 1.01 g/t Au, 3.1% Pb, 4.8% Zn, and 0.2% Cu (441 g/t AgEq) over 21.7m, including 299 g/t Ag, 5.42 g/t Au, 1.8% Pb, 9.7% Zn, and 0.6% Cu (1,291 g/t AgEq) over 2.8m; hole PLIP22-35 with 20 g/t Ag, 1.8 g/t Au, 0.5% Pb, 1.5% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (221 g/t AgEq) over 14.2m, including 44 g/t Ag, 1.1 g/t Au, 10.4% Pb, 15.3% Pb, and 0.3% Cu (1,059 g/t AgEq) over 0.2m, including 46 g/t Ag, 6.09 g/t Au, 2.7% Pb, 8.4% Pb, and 0.8% Cu (1,105 g/t AgEq) over 0.8m; and hole PLIP22-42 with 30 g/t Ag, 0.76 g/t Au, 7.9% Pb, 7.9% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (669 g/t AgEq) over 8.3m, including 49 g/t Ag, 0.41 g/t Au, 7.8% Pb, 10.9% Zn, and 1.1% Cu (846 g/t AgEq) over 0.9m, including 50 g/t Ag, 1.97 g/t Au, 19.7 g/t Pb, 15.6% Zn, and 0.3% Cu (1,422 g/t AgEq) over 2.7m.
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., identified five new mineralized target areas at its la Joya project in Durango. These areas are located in the unexplored portion of the property and were outlined during the last exploration campaign which consisted of geological mapping and sampling. The Verde and Hueco Areas were partially drilled by a previous operator, while Dyke North, Dyke South, and South-East Areas never have been drill tested before.
  • Regency Silver Corp., announced that two follow-up holes down-dip from REG-22-01 were completed at its Dios Padre project in Sonora. Hole REG-22-01 intersected 6.84 g/t Au, 22 g/t Ag, and 0.88% Cu over 35.8m, including 13.97 g/t Au, 50 g/t Ag, and 1.11% Cu over 9.8m. Hole REG-23-14 encountered 32m of pyrite-specularite-chalcopyrite supported breccia from approximately 454-486m within a broader zone of disseminated and vein hosted mineralization approximately 25m down dip from REG-22-01, while hole REG-23-15 intersected 120m of specularite-pyrite-chalcopyrite supported breccia from approximately 400-520m within a broader zone of disseminated and vein hosted mineralization approximately 85m down-dip from REG-22-01 and about 62m down-dip from REG-23-14.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., provided a year-end 2022 summary of its activities carried out at its flagship Panuco project in Sinaloa, and outlined the goals for 2023. During Q1, 2022 the company announced its initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) centered on the western portion of the Panuco district.  In 2022, Vizsla completed over 121,000m of additional drilling to conclude in an updated MRE on January 2023, with a significant increase in gold and silver as well as in the overall grade. The company also discovered other near-surface, high-grade structures, demonstrating the growth potential outboard of the known resource boundaries. “For 2023, our focus is on incremental expansion and de-risking of the current resource base. With a fully funded +90,000m drill program utilizing seven drill rigs, we plan to update the current Panuco resource estimate in the second half of 2023, which will be followed in due course by an initial Preliminary Economic Assessment”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Minera Alamos Inc., granted stock options to its management team, Board of Directors, and certain consultants. The Board of Directors approved the issuance of a total of 2.25M options at an exercise price of $0.51, and 6.9M at an exercise price of $0.45. All the options will expire in 5 years and vest 50% on the first anniversary of their grant and 50% on the second anniversary (Santana project, Sonora).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Almaden Minerals Ltd., signed a cooperation agreement with the Ejido Santa Maria Zotoltepec, the ejido located closest to its Ixtaca project in Puebla, to support an agro-technological package aimed at sustainable plan nutrition and soil enrichment.

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, an outcrop of a flow banded rhyolite in a low-sulphidation epithermal veins prospect in Sonora Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Second Week of February, 2023.

/ gambusinoprospectormexico / Leave a comment

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 6th week of the year (February 6th to February 12th, 2023), at least 14 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with five disclosing deals and corporate issues, three reporting resources and developments of their properties, three announcing financing issues, two informing on exploration results, and one commenting on Mexican issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Golden Minerals Corporation was the only mining company reporting drilling results on the second week of February, 2023.  ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Prismo filed a drilling permit application for its Pavito project. In Chihuahua, Golden Minerals reported results from the final 10 holes of the third drill program conducted at its Yoquivo project.  ON MINING, no relevant news.  ON FINANCING, Barksdale announced that 8,050,287 common share purchase warrants were exercised prior to their expiration (San Javier project, Sonora). GoGold closed its previously announced bought deal offering for gross proceed of CAD $65M (Los Ricos North and South projects, Jalisco). MAG Silver completed its previously announced bought deal public offering for gross proceeds of USD $42,558,250 (Juanicipio project, Zacatecas). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Sonoro Gold announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora.  Prime Mining announced the details of its 2023 work program objectives and strategy at its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa and will provide a 2022 progress report in February, 2023. Torex provided an inaugural quarterly update on its Media Luna project in Guerrero. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Colibri and its partner Silver Spruce declared that have earned 50% ownership interest in the Diamante property in Sonora. Discovery Silver announced that its shares will be listed and commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (Cordero project, Chihuahua). Consolidated Zinc entered into a binding conditional share sale agreement with Impact to sell its Plomosas project in Chihuahua. Vizsla, as part of its incentive compensation plan, granted stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the company (Panuco project, Sinaloa). Heliostar announced that their shares remain in a trading halt due to the acquisition of the Ana Paula project in Guerrero from Argonaut Gold.  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Golden Minerals was the only mining company reporting drilling results on the second week of February, 2023. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Prismo Metals Inc., filed a drilling permit application for its Pavito project in Sonora. The company anticipates the drilling permit will be approved in early March, 2023. Prismo plans to conduct an initial 2,500m drill program in the first half of 2023.
  • Golden Minerals Company reported results from the final 10 holes of the third drill program conducted at its Yoquivo project. Drilling highlights (widths reported are true widths) include hole YQ-22-028 with 3.81 g/t Au and 1,585 g/t Ag over 0.76m on the New Vein, plus 1.16 g/t Au and 105 g/t Ag over 0.80m on the Pertenencia Hangingwall Vein, plus 4.25 g/t Au and 449 g/t Ag over 1.16m on the Camila Hangingwall Vein, plus 1.45 g/t Au and 510 g/t Ag over 4.80m on the Camila Vein; hole YQ-22-031 with 3.86 g/t Au and 668 g/t Ag over 2.29m on the Pertenencia Vein; and hole YQ-22-034 with 1.3 g/t Au and 545 g/t Ag on the San Francisco Hangingwall Vein.

ON MINING

  • No relevant news.

ON FINANCING

  • Barksdale Resources Corp., announced that 8,050,287 common share purchase warrants, with an exercise price of $0.55 were exercised prior to their January 31, 2023 expiry. “The warrant exercises generated gross proceeds of approximately $4.4M, with approximately $3.8M coming from warrant exercises in January 2023. As of February 3, the Company’s unaudited cash position is approximately $6.6M with issued capital of 80,239,886 common shares. (San Javier project, Sonora).
  • GoGold Resources Inc., closed its previously announced bought deal offering of 28.9M common shares at a price of CAD $2.25 for gross proceed of approximately CAD $65M. Net proceeds will be used to advance the Los Ricos North and South projects in Jalisco. A syndicate of underwriters hold an option to purchase up to an additional 4,335,000 common shares at a price of CAD $2.25 per common share, exercisable in whole or in part, on or before March 10, 2023.
  • MAG Silver Corp., completed its previously announced bought deal public offering of 2,905,000 common shares, including 170,000 common shares issued upon the partial exercise of the over-allotment option, at a price of USD $14.65 per common share for gross proceeds of USD $42,558,250. Net proceeds will be used to fund exploration on the Juanicipio and MAG´s other projects, certain sustaining capital requirements at the Juanicipio project, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Sonoro Gold Corp., announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora, in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101.  The MRE, with an effective date of January 26, 2023 is based on 59,500m of drilled data including 544 drill holes, 17 trenches and assays for 57,500m of the drilled data. The pit constrained MRE include an indicated resource of 19.9M tonnes with grades of 0.44 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag (0.46 g/t AuEq) for a total of 280K Oz Au and 2.23M Oz Ag (290K Oz AuEq) contained, and inferred resources of 10.55M tonnes with grades of 0.42 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (0.44 g/t AuEq) for a total of 140K Oz Au and 1.34M Oz Ag (150K Oz AuEq).
  • Prime Mining Corp., announced the details of its 2023 work program objectives and strategy at its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa and will provide a 2022 progress report in February, 2023. The company has completed 110,000m of drilling in 2021 – 2022 to contribute to an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) which is expected to be released in Q2, 2023. For 2023, Prime has budgeted initial 35,000m in  step-out drilling along the three known deposits (Guadalupe, Z-T, and Central), as well as in generative exploration drilling at key targets in the Los Reyes mining district. Additionally, Prime plans to continue metallurgical test work and metallurgical domain classification of the deposits; to complete preliminary geotechnical analysis of the resource areas; and further mining assessment to advance the property to a potential future development. The company also will continue with the environmental base line work as well as the work dialogue with the community with strong emphasis on water programs and education.  All these programs are fully funded for 2023 with the completion of an over-subscribed $21M private placement on December 22, 2023.
  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., provided an inaugural quarterly update on its Media Luna project in Guerrero. Development of Media Luna is well underway with the project tracking to schedule and to budget. Capital expenditures related to the development of Media Luna are unchanged at USD $874.5M. As at year-end, Torex had commitments in place for USD $229.7M of project expenditures, including USD $124.7M of expenditures incurred. Torex expects to incur USD $390M to USD $440M of capital expenditures at Media Luna in 2023, which is forecasted to be the peak year of investment. All critical path engineering is on track, focused on finalization of key process equipment sizing and specifications as well as continued detailing of the new flotation plant. The Guajes Tunnel and South Portals advanced steady. Breakthrough of the Guajes Tunnel on the south side of the Balsas River remains on track for Q1 2024. The tunnel has successfully crossed under the Balsas River with no issues related to ground conditions or water. Additionally, multiple surface constructions have advanced steady. The company anticipates first production in late 2024.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Colibri Resource Corporation and its partner Silver Spruce Resources declared that have earned 50% ownership interest in the Diamante property in Sonora. The vendor, Bimsa Minera S.A. de C.V. , retains the remainder 50% ownership interest in the property.
  • Discovery Silver Corp., announced that its shares will be listed and commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol “DSV”, effective as February 3, 2023 (Cordero project, Chihuahua).
  • Consolidated Zinc Limited entered into a binding conditional share sale agreement with Impact Silver Corp., to sell its 100% legal and beneficial interest in Minera Latin American Zinc S.A.P.I. de C.V., a subsidiary of the company that owns the Plomosas project in Chihuahua for USD $6M. The sale agreement for the proposed transaction consist of USD $3M in cash and USD $3M in Impact Silver shares, and the payment of a 12% net profit interest royalty.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., as part of its incentive compensation plan, granted 2,130,000 stock options at an exercise price of $1.60 and 1,133,572 restricted share units to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the company (Panuco project, Sinaloa).
  • Heliostar Metals Inc., announced that their shares remain in a trading halt due to the acquisition of the Ana Paula project in Guerrero from Argonaut Gold, since this kind of transactions require a number of key documents for the security exchange.

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, an old adit driven along low-angle sheeted quartz veins in an orogenic gold prospect in Sonora Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of June, 2022. 

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Cu silicates (chrysocolla)

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 22ndweek of the year (May 30th to June 5th, 2022), at least 19 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with seven reporting resources and developments of their properties, four disclosing deals and corporate issues, two communicating production and financial results, two announcing financing issues, two commenting on Mexican issues, and two informing on exploration results. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Advance Lithium provided an update on the recent mining law changes. Prime Mining, Vizsla Silver and Zacatecas Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of June, 2022. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Benjamin Hill reported drill results from the El Fierro Zone at its Sonora Gold project, Sonora. In Coahuila, Monumental announced plans for follow-up exploration work at its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth project.  ON MINING, Santacruz reported Q1, 2022 production results from its Zimapan mine in Hidalgo. Minera Alamos reported Q1, 2022 financial results from its Santana project, Sonora. ON FINANCING, Reyna Silver announced a brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $3M (Guigui and Batopilas projects, Chihuahua). Alamos Gold declared a quarterly dividend of USD $0.025 per common share (Mulatos mine, Sonora). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Zacatecas Silver commenced its work plans to prepare a current resource estimate at its Esperanza project, Morelos. Discovery Silver reported positive metallurgical results and provided an update on its flagship Cordero project, Chihuahua. Prime reported additional phase 2 drill results from 12 step out drill holes at the Guadalupe East deposit within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Magna Gold filed an independent technical report for its Margarita project, Chihuahua. Minera Alamos provided an update on the continuing progress at its Santana project in Sonora. Vizsla reported results from eighteen new holes drilled at the southern extension of the Napoleon Vein at its flagship Panuco project, Sinaloa.  Zacatecas Silver released results from the Panuco Norte drilling program at its Zacatecas project, Zacatecas. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Azure entered into a binding sale agreement to sell its subsidiary companies that own and operate its Mexican assets to Bendito Resources for a combination of cash and shares valued at A $20M. Silverton entered into a share purchase agreement with Zapata to acquire the Margaritas property in Durango. Pantera Silver announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Nuevo Taxco project, Guerrero). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

Advance Lithium Corp., provided an update on the recent mining law changes that states that all the activities related to the exploration, exploitation and profit of lithium shall be the responsibility of the yet to be formed national lithium company. Advance has identified large zones of lithium, potassium and boron mineralization at their claims which are in good standing, with work completed and all legal filings in order. It should be noted that the analysis of the company’s deposits show that the composition of the mineralization is approximately equal parts lithium and potassium. While lithium is covered by this new legislation in Mexico, potassium is not. The potential of near term production of both lithium and potassium products puts the Company in a unique position with its salars/salt lakes deposits and looks forward to discussing the lithium opportunities with the newly formed Mexican national lithium company.

  • Prime Mining, Vizsla Silver and Zacatecas Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of June, 2022. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION
·         Benjamin Hill Mining Corp., reported drill results from the El Fierro Zone at its Sonora Gold project, Sonora. This drill program explored for the presence and continuity of metallic mineralization found in outcroppings at surface, in epithermal veins, skarn zones and hydrothermal breccias, as well as for possible magmatic source of mineralization as indicated by chargeability highs. Drilling highlights include hole SGB-22-23 with 0.25% Cu over 1.25m; hole SGB-22-24 with 0.67% Cu over 1.25m; hole SGB-22-26 with 0.39 g/t Au over 0.95m, plus 0.26% Cu over 1.45m; and hole SFB-22-21 with 3.54% Cu over 3m, including 10% Cu, 2.11 g/t Au and 52 g/t Ag over 0.6m.
·         Monumental Minerals Corp., announced plans for follow-up exploration work at its Jemi Heavy Rare Earth project. The follow-up work program will be divided in two phases. The first phase will consists of detailed geological mapping and collection of structural data, along with a ground radiometric survey to identify drill targets. The second phase will consists of a stream sediment geochemical survey to assess areas within and beyond the 8km2 area of highest priority.
ON MINING
·         Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., reported Q1, 2022 production results from its Zimapan mine in Hidalgo. The company processed 191,413 tonnes to produce 901.2K Oz AgEq. It sold 872.7K Oz AgEq and reported cash and All Included Sustaining Costs (AISC) of USD $17.04 and USD $23.38 per Oz AgEq sold respectively.
·         Minera Alamos Inc., announced Q1, 2022 financial results from its Santana project, Sonora. The company reported revenues of CAD $5.16M from approximately 65% of its gold production (the remaining gold was sold post quarter end); income from operation of CAD $1.53M; a net income of CAD $1.06M; and cash and cash equivalents of CAD $8,17M.
ON FINANCING
·         Reyna Silver Corp., announced a brokered private placement with Red Cloud Securities Inc. (the “Agent”), for gross proceeds of up to CAD $3M. The Agent will have an option, exercisable in full or in part up to 48 hours prior to the closing of the Offering, to sell up to an additional 2,777,778 Units at the Offering Price for additional gross proceeds of up to CAD $M. The company plans to use part of the gross proceeds to explore their Guigui and Batopilas projects in Chihuahua.
·         Alamos Gold Inc., declared a quarterly dividend of USD $0.025 per common share. The Company has paid dividends for 13 consecutive years during which time USD $264M has been returned to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, including USD $27M thus far in 2022. This includes 1M shares repurchased under the normal course issuer bid in May 2022 at a cost of USD $7.4M, or USD $7.42 per share. The dividend is payable on June 30, 2022 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 16, 2022 (Mulatos mine, Sonora).
ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
·         Zacatecas Silver Corp., commenced its work plans to prepare a current resource estimate at its Esperanza project, Morelos. The Esperanza project has a historical resource estimate of a measured and indicated resource of 34,352,000 tonnes of 0.98 g/t Au and 8 g/t Ag for 1.08M Oz Au and 8.9M Oz Ag and an inferred resource of 718,000 tonnes of 0.80 g/t Au and 15 g/t Ag for 18.4K Oz Au and 347.2K Oz Ag. Measured and indicated resources are 1.22M Oz AuEq of 1.11 g/t AuEq. Immediate steps to confirm resource estimate include: Extensive verification through sampling at least 10% of the historical drill core and new metallurgical test work by SGS Minerals. Additionally, the company is to commence work to identify and prioritize expansion and exploration targets throughout the project.
·         Discovery Silver Corp., reported positive metallurgical results and provided an update on its flagship Cordero project, Chihuahua. Initial results from the metallurgical testwork showed recoveries typically ranging from 90-95% for Ag, Pb, and Zn from very coarse grind size and with lower reagent consumption than what was assumed earlier. The company also announced the project study team for the Pre-Feasibility Study on Cordero project, in which plans to release an updated resource estimate in Q4, 2022. The updated resource estimate will be based on a total of 283,000m in 683 drill holes.
·         Prime Mining Corp., reported additional phase 2 drill results from 12 step out drill holes at the Guadalupe East deposit within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Highlights drill intercepts include hole 22GE-53 with 9.67 g/t Au and 314 g/t Ag over a true width (TW) of 0.80m, plus 3.01 g/t Au and 220 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.90m, plus 13.65 g/t Au and 311 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.50m, plus 61.99 g/t Au and 978 g/t Ag over a TW of 3.10m, including 200 g/t Au and 2,830 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.90m, plus 5.90 g/t Au and 341 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.60m; hole 22GE-48 with 2.93 g/t Au and 62 g/t Ag over a TW of 3.90m, including 4.41 g/t Au and 105 g/t Ag over a TW of 2m, plus 1.16 g/t Au and 79 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.40m, plus 1.78 g/t Au and 82 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.50m, plus 4.29 g/t Au and 125 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.40m, plus 1.62 g/t Au and 120 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.1m, plus 1.24 g/t Au and 88 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.10m, plus 3.19 g/t Au and 34 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.10m, plus  2.31 g/t Au and 98 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.40m, including 3.68 g/t Au and 161 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.80m; hole 22GE-45 with 12.79 g/t Au and 300 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.50m, including 16.96 g/t Au and 392 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.80m; hole 22GE-51 with 3.01 g/t Au and 161 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.60m; and hole 22GE-46 with 1.95 g/t Au and 155 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.30m, including 3.11 g/t Au and 249 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.30m.
·         Magna Gold Corp., filed an independent technical report for its Margarita project, Chihuahua, dated May 24, 2022, with an effective date of April 8, 2022. The technical report contains an initial mineral resource estimate.
·         Minera Alamos Inc., provided an update on the continuing progress at its Santana project in Sonora. The company announced that the development of the Nicho Main Zone is now underway with haulage and access road largely completed. First mineralized material should be stacked on the Santana leach pad as operation move into the second half of the year. At Nicho Norte, the gold mined and stacked on the leach pad to date total approximately 18K Oz with roughly 7K Oz recovered in concentrate.
·         Vizsla Silver Corp., reported results from eighteen new holes drilled at the southern extension of the Napoleon Vein at its flagship Panuco project, Sinaloa. Drilling highlights include hole NP-22-258 with 1,139 g/t Ag, 11.48 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 0.8% Zn (2,098 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 4.30m; hole NP-22-271 with 223 g/t Ag, 2.76 g/t Au, 1.5% Pb, and 5% Zn (677 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 7m, including 789 g/t Ag, 18.5 g/t Au, 5.7% Pb, and 11.7% Zn (2,871 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.46m, including 343 g/t Ag, 5.11 g/t Au, 1.7% Pb, and 2.9% Zn (909 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.61m, including 403 g/t Ag, 5.04 g/t Au, 1% Pb, and 4% Zn (985 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.91m, including 191 g/t Ag, 1.12 g/t Au, 2.9% Pb, and 10.9% Zn (774 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.99m; hole NP-22-277 with 151 g/t Ag, 2.63 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 0.5% Zn (389 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 7m, including 315 g/t Ag, 2.32 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 0.4% Zn (524 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.5m. including 630 g/t Ag, 4.94 g/t Au, 0.4% Pb, and 0.5% Zn (1,055 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.75m, including 189 g/t Ag, 2.7 g/t Au, 0.8% Pb, and 1.8% Zn (495 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.79m; and hole NP-22-281 with 202 g/t Ag, 1.55 g/t Au, 0.7% Pb, and 1.1% Zn (387 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 5.4m, including 1,275 g/t Ag, 6.25 g/t Au, 3.5% Pb, and 4% Zn (2,2027 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.34m, including 398 g/t Ag, 3.75 g/t Au, 1.9% Pb, and 2.7% Zn (855 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.84m, including 386 g/t Ag, 3.09 g/t Au, 1.8% Pb, and 2.5% Zn (779 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.59m. These results are part of the ongoing 12,000m resource/discovery-based drill program.
·         Zacatecas Silver Corp., released results from the Panuco Norte drilling program at its Zacatecas project, Zacatecas. Drilling highlights include hole PAN2022-057 with 224 g/t Ag and 0.15 g/t Au (224 g/t AgEq) over 1.83m; hole PAN2022-56 with 151 g/t Ag and 0.16 g/t Au (163 g/t AgEq) over 3.71m; and hole PAN2022-61 with 231 g/t Ag and 0.22 g/t Au (248 g(/t AgEq) over 1.28m. The Company has now completed 63 drill holes at Panuco North for a total of 7,240 meters. “Drilling in the eastern and central part of the Panuco North Vein has now intercepted near-surface mineralization over a strike length of 700 m, with the vein remaining open along strike and open at depth. Assay results from 22 Panuco North holes are pending”.
ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES
·         Azure Minerals Limited entered into a binding sale agreement to sell its subsidiary companies that own and operate its Mexican assets to Bendito Resources for a combination of cash and shares valued at A $20M, consisting of A $10M cash and A $10M shares in Bendito. The portfolio consists of eight properties, but Alacrán, Oposura, and Promontorio projects will form the core assets of Bendito, all located within the Laramide Copper Province in N-NW Mexico. Alacrán, in Sonora State, hosts the high-grade Mesa de Plata silver deposit and adjacent Loma Bonita gold-silver deposit which together contain 32 M Oz Ag and 150K Oz Au in JORC Mineral Resources. A Scoping Study / Preliminary Economic Assessment on Oposura, in Sonora State,showed robust results for a high-quality, high-grade massive sulphide Zn-Pg-Ag development opportunity. The project holds significant exploration upside for resource expansion. At Promontorio, Chihuahua, Azure established a high-grade, near-surface Cu-Au-Ag resource and identified prospectivity for an underlying copper porphyry system.
·         Silverton Metals Corp., entered into a share purchase agreement with Zapata Exploration Ltd., to acquire the Margaritas property in Durango by acquiring all of the issued and outstanding shares of Zapata´s Mexican subsidiary, Impulsora de Proyectos Mineros S.A. de C.V. The Margaritas property comprises two mining concessions totalling 500 hectares, and consists of a 3.5km long and 240m of vertical extension of an under-explored, high-grade epithermal vein system hosted in productive volcanic rocks of the Sierra Madre Occidental. This vein system has returned grades up to 73.7 g/t Au in dump samples and 31.6 g/t Au in rock chip channel samples with grades between 1-38 g/t Ag. To acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Impulsora, Silverton has agreed to issue 750K common shares and grant a net smelter return royalty of 0.5%, which may be repurchased at a price of USD $250K.
·         Pantera Silver Corp., announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors. In addition, the Board of Directors of the Company has authorized the granting of incentive stock options under its Stock Option Plan to purchase 300K common shares of the Company at an exercise price of CAD $0.20 per share for a five-year term expiring June 1, 2027. The stock options are being granted to certain directors and advisors of the Company (Nuevo Taxco project, Guerrero).
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, Cu silicates (chrysocolla) in a Carbonate Replacement Deposit in Durango, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Fourth Week of February, 2022. 

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Quartz Vein

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 8th week of the year (February 21st to February 27th, 2022), at least 24 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 6 news published by the media, with eight reporting resources and developments of their properties, six disclosing deals and corporate issues, four informing on exploration results, three discussing social issues, three communicating production results, three announcing financial issues, and three commenting on Mexican issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Magna Gold announced that after several inspections at its San Francisco mine in Sonora, the suspension of the crushing and laboratory areas has been lifted. Mexico was the largest silver producer country in 2021. Marisol Barragán swore in as President of the Mexico City District of Mujeres WIM Mexico.  ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Aztec-Kootenay JV released results from the ongoing RC drilling program conducted at the Cervantes project, and Ranchero Gold released the final results from its recently completed phase 1 drill program at its Maíz Azul prospect within its Santa Daniela project.  In Chihuahua, Radius announced results from its ongoing drill program at its Amalia project. In Nayarit, Sierra Madre informed that it received the drilling permit from the Mexican Federal Environmental Permitting Agency (SEMARNAT) and entered into formal surface rights exploration agreement with the surface owners for its La Tigra project.  ON MINING, Americas Gold and Silver provided silver production guidance for 2022 for its Cosala Operations in Sinaloa. Orla provided a 2022 production, operating costs, capital costs, and exploration spending guidance for the full year 2022 for its Camino Rojo property, Zacatecas. Equinox Gold reported Q4 and full year 2021 production and financial results from their Mexican operations. ON FINANCING, Golden Tag increased its previously announced non-brokered private placement by up to 5M unit for aggregate proceeds of up to 1.25M (San Diego project, Durango). Pan American Silver declared dividend to shareholders of $0.12 per common share (La Colorada mine, Zacatecas). Gold Resource declared Q1, 2022 dividend to shareholders (Arista mine, Oaxaca). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Silver Dollar announced that it completed a 2,424 m drill program in 11 holes at its La Joya project in Durango. Silver Tiger informed that it will commence the rehabilitation of the historic El Tigre mine. Alamos Gold updated mineral reserves and resources as of December 31, 2021 (Mulatos Mine, Sonora). Pan American Silver released results for 20 new infill and exploration holes drilled at its la Colorada mine in Zacatecas. Prime Mining announced results from its first drill program at the Guadalupe West deposit within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Stroud commenced its phase 2 diamond drilling program at its Santo Domingo project in Jalisco. Mithril reported positive results from the metallurgical testwork conducted at its Copalquin project in Durango. Newmont reported mineral reserves and resources for their Peñasquito and Noche Buena properties in Zacatecas.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Benjamin Hill granted options to directors, officers and a consultant (Sonora Gold project, Sonora). Monumental announced the appointment of its CEO (Jemi project, Coahuila). Orla Mining announced the appointment of its Chief Sustainability Officer (Camino Rojo, Zacatecas). SSR informed that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Pitarrilla silver project in Durango to Endeavour. Riverside signed an agreement with Agnico Eagle for the sale of the Pima property located in Sonora. Sierra Metals announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Bolivar mine, Chihuahua). Great Panther announced senior management changes (Topia mine, Durango). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Esperanza Silver supported the first generation of the education program in Morelos. Grupo México offered employment to 100 women in Santa Bárbara, Chihuahua. Minera Peñasquito delivered the remodeling and rehabilitation of a plaza to the community of Nuevo Peñasco, Mazapil in Zacatecas.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Magna Gold Corp., announced that after several inspections at its San Francisco mine in Sonora, the suspension of the crushing and laboratory areas has been lifted.
  • Mexico was the largest silver producer country in 2021 with 5,600 tonnes, followed by China with 3,400 tonnes and by Peru with 3,000 tonnes.
  • Marisol Barragán swore in as President of the Mexico City District of Mujeres WIM Mexico, with the primary purpose of boosting initiatives that promote equal opportunities and working conditions for women in the mining industry in Mexico,

ON EXPLORATION

  • Aztec Minerals Corp – Kootenay Silver Inc JV released results from the ongoing RC drilling program conducted at the Cervantes project. Drilling highlights include hole CAL22-004 with 1 g/t Au over 167.2m, including 4.25 g/t Au over 24.4m; hole CAL22-002 with 0.37 g/t Au over 99.1m; and hole CAL22-003 with 0.45 g/t Au over 45.7m, including 0.87 g/t Au over 13.7m. Gold appears to be widely distributed in disseminations, fractures and veinlets within quartz-feldspars porphyry, feldspar porphyry stocks, and related hydrothermal breccias.
  • Ranchero Gold Corp., released the final results from its recently completed phase 1 drill program at its Maíz Azul prospect within its Santa Daniela project in Sonora. The drill program consisted of 3,122m in 16 holes. Hole MA22-25 intersected 1.2 g/t Au over 15.6m at the La Colmena target. The company will update its geological mapping to further identify new structures that control mineralization. It also will plan the phase II drill program with the goal of expanding the newly discovered gold mineralization as well as testing additional targets including the X-structure. 
  • Radius Gold Inc., announced results from its ongoing drill program at El Cuervo area within its Amalia project in Chihuahua. Drill highlights include hole AMDD21-47 with 167 g/t Ag and 0.54 g/t Au over 96m, including 232 g/t Ag and 0.65 g/t Au over 61.20m, including 290 g/t Ag and 0.8 g/t Au over 45.20m, including 302 g/t Ag and 1.13 g/t Au over 17.35m, including 592 g/t Ag and 0.65 g/t Au over 7.35m, including 438 g/t Ag and 1.12 g/t Au over 7.85m; and hole AMDD21-46 with 44 g/t Ag and 0.13 g/t Au over 31m, including 158 g/t Ag and 0.49 g/t Au over 3.7m, including 233 g/t Ag and 0.31 g/t Au over 1.7m, and 203 g/t Ag and 0.53 g/t Au over 3.50m, including 381 g/t Ag and 1.31 g/t Au over 1.1m.  “The initial drilling at El Cuervo has confirmed a significant mineralized system and drilling is ongoing to define the size potential”.
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., informed that it received the drilling permit from the Mexican Federal Environmental Permitting Agency (SEMARNAT) authorizing the use of 30 drill pads within its La Tigra project in Nayarit. The company also informed that it entered into formal surface rights exploration agreement with the ejido Santa Maria Picachos, the surface owners at La Tigra project that allows for the commencement of the drilling program.

ON MINING

  • Americas Gold and Silver Corporation provided silver production guidance for 2022 for its Cosala Operations in Sinaloa. Silver production from the Cosala Operations in 2022 is forecast to be between 0.7 to 0.9M Oz Ag, 13-15M Lb Pb, and 36 to 40M Lb Zn. “
  • Orla Mining Ltd., provided a 2022 production, operating costs, capital costs, and exploration spending guidance for the full year 2022 for its Camino Rojo property, Zacatecas. The company expects to produce from Camino Rojo over 90-100K Oz Au for the full year 2022 with an AISC of USD $600-700 per Oz Au sold. Total sustaining cost and exploration spending are expected to total USD $5M and USD $10M respectively.
  • Equinox Gold Corporation reported Q4 and full year 2021 production and financial results from their Los Filos and Mercedes mines located in Guerrero and Sonora respectively. At Los Filos mine, Guerrero, Equinox mined 3.4M tonnes of 0.77 g/t Au (open pit) and 162K tonnes of 3.11 g/t Au (underground) to produce 54.7K Oz Au. It sold 55,144 Oz Au during Q4, 2021 and reported revenue of USD $98.8M, and cash and AISC of USD $1,311 and USD $1,433 per Oz Au sold respectively. For the full year, the company mined 7.09M tonnes of 0.71 g/t Au (open pit) and 519K tonnes of 3.23 g/t Au to produce 144.1K Oz Au. It sold 143.8K Oz Au during the full year 2021, and reported revenue of USD $257.2M, and cash and AISC of USD $1,575 and USD $1,753 per Oz Au sold. Equinox provided production and guidance cost for 2022. It expects to produce between 160-180KOz Au at cash and AISC of USD $1400-1600 and USD $1,625-1,700 per Oz Au sold respectively. At Mercedes mine, Sonora, the company mined 125K tonnes and processed 161K tonnes of 2.30 g/t Au during Q4, 2021 to produce 11,35K Oz Au. It sold 10.3K Oz Au and reported revenue of USD $18.9M and cash and AISC of USD $1,091 and USD $1,584 respectively. For the full year, the company mined 348K tonnes and processed 398K tonnes of 2.59 g/t Au to produce 31.8K Oz Au, It sold 30.9K Oz Au, and reported revenue of USD $56.9M , and cash and AISC of USD $966 and USD $1,357 per Oz Au respectively. On Dec 16, 2021, Equinox entered into an agreement to sell Mercedes mine to Bear Creek.

ON FINANCING

  • Golden Tag Resources Ltd., increased its previously announced non-brokered private placement by up to 5M unit for aggregate proceeds of up to $1.25M. The company plans to use the gross proceeds to fund advancement of its San Diego project in Durango.
  • Pan American Silver Corp., declared dividend of $0.12 per common share under new dividend policy. The cash dividend of $0.12 per common share, or approximately $25.3M in aggregate cash dividends, is payable on or about March 21, 2022 (La Colorada mine, Zacatecas).
  • Gold Resource Corporation declared its quarterly dividend of $0.01 per common share for Q1, 2022 to shareholders (Arista mine, Oaxaca).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., announced that it completed a 2,424 m drill program in 11 holes on the Noria portion at its La Joya project in Durango. Aim of the drill program was target development and testing for possible structural extensions of known mineralized zones identified in historical drilling. Assays are pending and drilling is on standby until the company receives assay results and gets an interpretation.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., informed that it has contracted Cominvi, an underground mine contractor, to commence the rehabilitation of the historic El Tigre mine. “Initial rehabilitation will begin on the Level 7 main entry to the Historic El Tigre Mine to allow access to the Sooy Vein, El Tigre Vein and the Seitz Kelly Vein in contemplation of underground channel sampling, drilling and bulk sampling on those veins and the black shale horizon”.
  • Alamos Gold Inc., updated mineral reserves and resources as of December 31, 2021. The company increased its mineral reserves at Mulatos mine 14% to 1.5M Oz Au (29.4M tonnes of 1.64 g/t Au) with a 32% increase in grades reflecting the addition of higher-grade underground mineral reserves at Puerto del Aire, which is adjacent to the main Mulatos pit. The company reported proven + probable reserves for 29.36M tonnes of 1.64 g/t Au for a total of 1.54M Oz Au contained. It also reported Measured + Indicated resources for 8.2M tonnes of 1.34 g/t Au for a total of 353K Oz Au and Inferred resources for 1.72M tonnes of 1.06 g/t Au for a total of 59K Oz Au contained. The remaining mineral reserve mine of life of the Mulatos district is approximately six years as of December 31, 2021 (excluding the underground mineral reserves of Puerto del Aire Deposit.
  • Pan American Silver Corp., released results for 20 new infill and exploration holes drilled at its la Colorada mine in Zacatecas. Drill highlights include hole U-83-21 with 64 g/t Ag, 0.06% Cu, 1.9% Pb, and 3.8% Zn over 322.85m, including 178 g/t Ag, 0.06% Cu, 4.3% Pb, and 6.3% Zn over 64.90m; hole S-73-21 with 76 g/t Ag, 0.36% Cu, 4.2% Pb, and 9.5% Zn over 78.55m, including 91 g/t Ag, 0.46% Cu, 5.2% Pb, and 11.4% Zn over 58.1m; hole D-73-01-21 with 79 g/t Ag, 0.29% Cu, 2.2% Pb, and 5.7% Zn over 159 m, including 112 g/t Ag, 0.45% Cu, 3.2% Pb, and 8.1% Zn over 99.2m; hole D-71-01-21 with 48 g/t Ag, 0.05% Cu, 3% Pb, and 5.8% Zn over 44.65m, including 100 g/t Ag, 0.28% Cu, 7.3% Pb, and 7.1% Zn over 15.95m; hole D71-03-21 with 60 g/t Ag, 0.09% Cu, 2.1% Pb, and 3.2% Zn over 22.1m, and 42 g/t Ag, 0.07% Cu, 1.2% Pb, and 3.9% Zn over 55.60m, and 91 g/t Ag, 0.2% Cu, 4.8% Pb, and 8% Zn over 191.85m; and hole D-21-02-21 with 59 g/t Ag, 0.2% Cu, 1.2% Pb, and 3.8% Zn over 219.90m, including 51 g/t Ag, 0.2% Cu, 2% Pb, and 6.1% Zn over 91.3m.
  • Prime Mining Corp., announced results from its first drill program at the Guadalupe West deposit within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Twelve new holes, of which seven were diamond holes and 5 were RC holes are reported and drill highlights include hole 21GW-12R with 1.68 g/t Au and 26 g/t Ag over a true width (TW) of 19.8m; hole 21GW-07 with 1.6 g/t Au and 50 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.6m, and 1.92 g/t Au and 34 g/t Ag over a TW of 17.7m; hole 21GW-02 with 1.82 g/t Au and 52 g/t Ag over 4.8m, and 0.53 g/t Au and 15 g/t Ag over a TW of 27.6m; hole 21GW-01 with 1.08 g/t Au and 38 g/t Ag over a TW of 3.6m; and hole 21GW-11R with 0.9 g/t Au and 63 g/t Ag over a TW of 4.3m.
  • Stroud Resources Ltd., commenced its phase 2 diamond drilling program, which will consist of 3,500m targeting the newly discovered Zopilotes Vein, the Guadalupe Vein, and the La Raya Vein, within its Santo Domingo project in Jalisco. “The company’s current drilling permit covers 13 drill pads (drill setups) located across the property. A second drilling permit will be submitted seeking additional drill pad locations to facilitate further delineation of the three known mineralized vein systems and other exploration targets”. 
  • Mithril Resources Ltd., reported positive results from the metallurgical testwork conducted at its Copalquin project in Durango. The company reported that the final overall recoveries after leaching of the flotation products were 96.5% for gold and 96.1% for silver.
  • Newmont Corporation reported mineral reserves and resources for their Peñasquito and Noche Buena properties in Zacatecas as of December 31, 2021. At Peñasquito, Zacatecas, Newmont reported Proven Reserves of 115M tonnes of 0.61 g/t Au, 38 g/t Ag, 0.9% Zn, and 0.4% Pb for a total of 2.25M Oz Au, 141.5M Oz Ag, 2.38 B Lb Zn, and 940M Lb Pb and Probable Reserves of 247M tonnes of 0.51 g/t Au, 32 g/t Ag, 0.7% Zn, and 0.3% Pb for a total of 4.08M Oz Au, 252.4M Oz Ag, 3.87 B Lb Zn, and 1.64 B Lb Pb. Proven + Probable Reserves are 362M tonnes of 0.54 g/t Au, 34 g/t Ag, 0.8% Zn, and 0.3% Pb for a total of 6.33M Oz Au, 393.9M Oz Ag, 6.25 B Lb Zn, and 2.58 B Lb Pb. Measured Resources are 31.4M tonnes of 0.27 g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag, 0.7% Zn, and 0.3% Pb for a total of 280K Oz Au, 26M Oz Ag, 460M Lb Zn, and 200M Lb Pb, and Indicated Resources of 176.6M tonnes of 0.27 g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag, 0.6% Zn, and 0.3% Pb for a total of 1.5M Oz Au, 149.6M Oz Ag, 2.2 B Lb Zn, and 1.02 B Lb Pb. Measured + Indicated Resources are  208M tonnes of 0.27g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag, 0.6%Zn, and 0.3% Pb for a total of 1.78M Oz Au, 175.6M Oz Ag, 2.69 B Lb Zn, and 1.23 B Lb Pb. Inferred Resources are 89.8M tonnes of 89.8M tonnes of 0.4 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag, 0.5% Zn, and 0.2% Pb for a total of 1.16M Oz Au, 80.84M Oz Ag, 1.07 B Lb Zn, and 480M Lb Pb. At Noche Buena, Zacatecas (50% attributable to Newmont), it reported Indicated Resources of 21M tonnes of 0.37 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag for a total of 250K Oz Au and 9.4M Oz Ag, and Inferred Resources of 1.6M tonnes of 1.07 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag for a total of 230K Oz Au and 570K Oz Ag. Resources are reported exclusive of Reserves.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Benjamin Hill Mining Corp., granted 1.4.M options exercisable at $0.44 per common share of which 980K options granted to directors/officers shall have a term of 5 years, and 500K options granted to a consultant shall have a term of 2 years (Sonora Gold project, Sonora).
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., announced the appointment of its CEO (Jemi project, Coahuila).
  • Orla Mining Ltd., announced the appointment of its Chief Sustainability Officer, effective march 1, 2022 (Camino Rojo, Zacatecas).
  • SSR Mining Inc., informed that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Pitarrilla silver project in Durango to Endeavour Silver Corp., for a total consideration of up to USD $127M. This consideration includes USD $35M in cash, USD $35M in Endeavour shares, and a 1.25% Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) royalty on the Pitarrilla property.
  • Riverside Resources Inc., signed an agreement with Agnico Eagle for the sale of the Pima property located in Sonora. Riverside will receive cash and completes the pass through royalty transfer with Millrock Resources Inc. 
  • Sierra Metals Inc., announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Bolivar mine, Chihuahua).
  • Great Panther Mining Limited informed about the resignation of its President and CEO and announced the appointment of his replacement on an interim basis (Topia mine, Durango).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Esperanza Silver, supported the first generation of 14 people between women and men who accredited the upper secondary level as a results of an alliance in favor of the education integrated for inhabitants of the community of San Agustin Tetlama and Esperanza Silver.
  • Grupo México offered employment to 100 women in Santa Bárbara, Chihuahua. Andrés Torres, general secretary of the Section 11 Miners’ Union reported that by 2022 there is a goal of employing a hundred women in the different areas of the companies.
  • Minera Peñasquito (Newmont) delivered the inhabitants of the community of Nuevo Peñasco, belonging to Ejido Cedros, in Mazapil, the remodeling and rehabilitation of their plaza, as part of Newmont Peñasquito’s commitment to creating shared value in the communities in its area of influence. Additionally, the company provided 27 trees of different species, the same that were planted throughout the square.

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, a quartz vein from a low sulphidation epithermal vein project in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of December, 2021. 

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Quartz vein with massive chalcopyrite

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 48th week of the year (November 29th to December 5th, 2021), at least 24 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 3 news published by the media, with seven announcing financial issues, five reporting resources and developments of their properties, five disclosing deals and corporate issues, four informing on exploration results, three commenting on Mexican issues, and three communicating production and financial results.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, AMLO reaffirmed this week his foolish and unfortunate policy of not granting more mining concessions in Mexico. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered to meet the request of residents of San José del Progreso and collaborators of Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán, who asked him to avoid the closure of the San José mining unit, located in that Oaxacan municipality. The current government has stopped the issuance of mining concessions and investment in Mexico. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Ranchero Gold provided an update of its ongoing drilling program conducted at its Maíz Azul project. In Chihuahua, Mammoth received from SEMARNAT a permit to expand its drilling program at its Tenoriba project. In Sinaloa, Kootenay announced drill results from its Copalito project. In Durango, Silverton signed a surface agreement for its Pluton Silver-Zinc project.  ON MINING, Americas Gold and Silver announced the re-opening of its Cosalá mine operation in Sinaloa. Santacruz reported Q3, 2021 production and financial results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi respectively. Guanajuato Silver provided a production update on its El Cubo mine, Guanajuato.  ON FINANCING, Guanajuato Silver closed the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement offering of up to 16M units at a price of CAD $0.55 per unit (El Cubo mine, Guanajuato). Fabled renewed its agreement with Agora Internet to provide online advertising, marketing, and branding services and wishes to issue 519,007 common shares in respect of the settlement, and engaged Hybrid Financial to provide marketing services (Santa Maria project, Chihuahua). First Majestic announced that it will issue USD $200M aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes or USD $230M aggregate principal amount if the over-allotment option is exercised in full (San Dimas mine, Durango). Guanajuato Silver received USD $750K from the sale of 90 tonnes of bulk Ag-Au concentrate from El Cubo mine in Guanajuato, and anticipates receiving a payment of approximately USD $1.3M for the sale of approximately 175 tonnes of additional Ag-Au concentrate on or about December 3, 2021. Orogen announced initial production at the Ermitaño deposit in Sonora where the company holds a 2% net smelter return. VVC announced an arrangement with Stockhouse Publishing to assists VVC with general market outreach and investor awareness (Gloria Copper project, Chihuahua). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Discovery reported a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its Cordero project, Chihuahua. Endeavour released high grade results from its ongoing drilling program at their Guanacevi and Bolañitos mines in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. Silver Tiger reported a wide high grade drill intersection on the Benjamin Vein at its El Tigre project, Sonora. Fabled released results from hole SM0-42 collared at its Santa Maria project, Chihuahua. GR Silver announced the discovery of a gold-silver rich mineralized zone during the initial reconnaissance drilling at Loma Dorada target within its Plomosas project in Sinaloa.    ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Almadex announced the appointment of two members to its Board of Directors and the retirement of one Director after many years of valued service (El Chato project, Puebla). Capstone and Mantos Copper entered into a definitive agreement to combine business to create Capstone Copper (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas). Heliostar announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Cumaro project, Sonora). Monumental Minerals announced the appointment of an advisory board to assist the company with the exploration and drill target definition of its Jemi rare earth elements project in Coahuila. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • AMLO reaffirmed this week his foolish and unfortunate policy of not granting more mining concessions in Mexico. He declared that mining companies were speculating in the financial market. López Obrador asserted that the existing mining concessions will be respected; however, his government will no longer give more, as many companies “cheated” and have not carried out exploitation tasks.
  • President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered to meet the request of residents of San José del Progreso and collaborators of Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán, who asked him to avoid the closure of the San José mining unit, located in that Oaxacan municipality. The president was asked to avoid the loss of more than 1,200 direct jobs and around 8,000 indirect ones.
  • The current government has stopped the issuance of mining concessions and investment in Mexico. Parallel to the policy of null concessions, the president has presented a bill that intends to reserve strategic minerals such as lithium only for the State, denying any concession for their exploration, production or commercialization. Both their decisions not to grant a single concession in three years of government “and the promise not to do so in the entire six-year term”and to reserve strategic minerals for the State have been strongly criticized by specialists and representatives of the mining industry, to the point of warning that the future of the country is being“mortgaged.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Ranchero Gold Corp., provided an update of its ongoing drilling program conducted at its Maíz Azul project, located 3.5km east of Alamos Gold´s Mulatos mine in Sonora. To date, eight holes have been drilled totalling 1,245m, which represents 42% of the Phase 1 drill program which plans to test the La Colmena, La Cascada, and X-structure targets. 175 samples have been submitted to lab and results are expected to arrive in Q1, 2022.
  • Mammoth Resources Corp., received from SEMARNAT a permit to expand its drilling program at its Tenoriba project in Chihuahua. SEMARNAT approved the company´s application for up to 182 additional drill sites and covers the entire 6 km Au-Ag mineralization at the Tenoriba project.
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., announced drill results from Agua, 5 Señores, and Chiva Veins within its Copalito project in Sinaloa. Highlights at Agua Vein include hole BDH-20-055 with 2 g/t Au, 125 g/t Ag and 0.9% combined Pb+Zn (276 g/t AgEq) over 23m, including 9.26 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag, and 0.6% combined Pb+Zn (643 g/t AgEq) over 5m, including 21.1 g/t Au, 29 g/t Ag, and 0.3% combined Pb+Zn (1,409 g/t AgEq) over 0.65m, plus 0.82 g/t Au, 587 g/t Ag, and 1.6% combined Pb+Zn (676 g/t AgEq) over 3m; hole BDH-21-056 with 0.22 g/t Au, 101 g/t Ag, and 0.9% combined Pb+Zn (135 g/t AgEq) over 21m, including 0.28 g/t Au, 163 g/t Ag, and 0.8% combined Pb+Zn (199 g/t AgEq) over 7m, including 0.48 g/t Au, 440 g/t Ag and 0.9% combined Pb+Zn (492 g/t AgEq) over 1.5m; and hole CDH-21-80 with 0.42 g/t Au, 63 g/t Ag, and 4.8% combined Pb+Zn (199 g/t AgEq) over 1.84m, including 0.69 g/t Au, 133 g/t Ag, and 11% combined Pb+Zn (423 g/t AgEq) over 0.43m. Highlights at 5 Señores Vein include hole BDH-20-51 with 2.95 g/t Au, 98 g/t Ag, and 0.3% combined Pb+Zn (290 g/t AgEq) over 1.4m; and hole BDH-20-052 with 0.23 g/t Au, 14 g/t Ag, and 0.6% combined Pb+Zn (34 g/t AgEq) over 3.3m, including 1.28 g/t Au, 61 g/t Ag, and 3.3% combined Pb+Zn (174 g/t AgEq) over 0.48m. Highlight on Chiva Vein include hole BDH-21-057 with 0.06 g/t Au, 106 g/t Ag, and 0.3% combined Pb+Zn (118 g/t AgEq) over 6.33m, including 0.23 g/t Au, 513 g/t Ag, and 0.8% combined Pb+Zn (546 g/t AgEq) over 0.82m; hole BDH-21-058 with 0.07 g/t Au, 41 g/t Ag, and 0.1% combined Pb+Zn (48 g/t AgEq) over 12m, including 0.5 g/t Au, 300 g/t Ag, and 1.4% combined Pb+Zn (1,364 g/t AgEq) over 0.35m; and hole BDH-21-063 with 0.92 g/t Au, 86 g/t Ag, and 5.5% combined Pb+Zn (269 g/t AgEq) over 1.82m, including 4.49 g/t Au, 453 g/t Ag, and 2.7% combined Pb+Zn (1,344 g/t AgEq) over 0.32m.
  • Silverton Metals Corp., signed a surface agreement for three years for its Pluton Silver-Zinc project with the Comisariado Ejidal of Ejido Mapimi in Durango State. The agreement provides access to the land for surface exploration work, including diamond drilling and use of a core storage facility.

ON MINING

  • Americas Gold and Silver Corporation, announced the re-opening of its Cosalá mine operation in Sinaloa. The Los Braceros plant has returned to nameplate production with a steady source of feed from a combination of existing stockpiled ore and new production from the San Rafael mine.
  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., reported Q3, 2021 production and financial results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi respectively. At Zimapan mine, Hidalgo, the company milled 186,642 tonnes to produce 867.2K Oz AgEq, and sold 829.2K Oz AgEq. Cash costs per ton and per Oz AgEq produced were USD $53.88 and USD $17.72 respectively. AISC was USD $22.81 per Oz Ag Eq. The company reported revenue of USD $14.4M and a gross profit of USD $3.93M. At Rosario mine, San Luis Potosi, the company milled 2,306 tonnes to produce 5,698 Oz AgEq and sold 10,765 Oz AgEq. Cash costs per ton and per Oz AgEq produced were USD $173.04 and USD $42.81 respectively. AISC was USD $22.47 per Oz AgEq produced. The company reported revenue for USD $182K and gross profit of (272K).
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., provided a production update on its El Cubo mine, Guanajuato. The company has mined since October 15, 2021 450 tonnes of ore per day from El Cubo mine and is processing an average of 1,000 tonnes per day. It expects the plant to operate for 22 to 24 days for an average monthly operating rate of 22,500 tonnes for the next 6 months.

ON FINANCING

  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., closed the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement offering of up to 16M units at a price of CAD $0.55 per unit. The net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund the ongoing exploration, development, and expansion of the Company’s El Cubo mine and mill complex and El Pinguico silver and gold project, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., renewed its agreement with Agora Internet Relations to provide online advertising, marketing, and branding services and wishes to issue 519,007 common shares in respect of the settlement. It also engaged Hybrid Financial Ltd., to provide marketing services. Hybrid has been engaged for an initial period of 6 months, starting on December 1, 2021 and will be paid a monthly fee of $22,500 plus payable taxes (Santa Maria project, Chihuahua).
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., announced that it will issue USD $200M aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes or USD $230M aggregate principal amount if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. The company intends to use approximately USD $164.9M of the net proceeds of the offering to repurchase, in separate privately negotiated transactions, approximately USD $125.2M aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 1.875% convertible senior notes. The company intends to use the remainder of the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including strategic opportunities (San Dimas mine, Durango).
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., received USD $750K from the sale of 90 tonnes of bulk Ag-Au concentrate grading approximately 220 Oz Ag per tonne and 2.2 Oz Au per tonne from El Cubo mine in Guanajuato, and anticipates receiving a payment of approximately USD $1.3M for the sale of approximately 175 tonnes of additional Ag-Au concentrate at similar grades on or about December 3, 2021.
  • Orogen Royalties Inc., announced initial production at the Ermitaño deposit in Sonora where the company holds a 2% net smelter return. The first doré gold-silver pour occurred November 11, 2021 and commercial production is expected in Q1 2022.
  • VVC Exploration Corporation announced an arrangement with Stockhouse Publishing to assists VVC with general market outreach and investor awareness. At the time, the company issued to Stockhouse 157,900 common shares of VVC and a $60K Note to be converted into shares in four tranches over a year. With the approval of TSX Venture Exchange, one quarter of the note ($15K) will now converted, as part of the second tranche, to 136,365 shares at a price of $0.11 per share, being yesterday´s market price discounted by 25%. The next share issuance will occur in three months (Gloria Copper project, Chihuahua).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Discovery Silver Corp., reported a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its Cordero project, Chihuahua. The reports indicates that the ultimate pit contains 719M tonnes consisting of 228M tonnes of mill feed and 491M tonnes of waste for an average strip ratio of 2.2:1 Highlights include a Base Case after-tax NPV 5% of USD $1,160M and IRR of 38% assuming prices of USD $22 / Oz Ag, USD $1,600/ Oz Au, USD 1/Lb Pb, and USD $1.0/ Lb Zn; and a Upside Case after-tax NPV 5% of USD $1,889M and IRR of 55%, assuming prices of USD $27.5/Oz Ag, USD $1,880/Oz Au,  USD $1.1/Lb Pb, and USD $1.45/Lb Zn; 16-year mine life with an average annual production of 26M Oz AgEq at an AISC of USD $12.35 / Oz AgEq; initial development CAPEX of USD $368M post-tax payback of 2 years for Base Case and 1.4 years for Upside Case; 99% of tonnes processed in the PEA mine are in the Measured + Indicated category; and Ag represents > 60% of the net smelter return in the first five years of the mine life and >50% of the net smelter return over the life of mine.
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., released high grade results from its ongoing drilling program at their Guanacevi and Bolañitos mines in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. At Guanacevi mine, highlights include hole UCM-67 with 1.97 g/t Au and 1,254 g/t Ag (1,412 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 3.22m, including 3.6 g/t Au and 2,690 g/t Ag (2,978 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.2m, extending the El Curso orebody along strike; and hole SCSU-11 with 4.36 g/t Au, 1,450 g/t Ag (1,798 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 3.18m, including 7.97 g/t Au and 4,568 g/t Ag (5,206 g/t AgEq) over 0.31m, extending the Santa Cruz South orebody to depth. At Bolañitos mine, Guanajuato, highlights include hole BS-04 with 8.08 g/t Au and 151 g/t Ag (797 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 1.67m, including 89.6 g/t Au and 88 g/t Ag (8,046 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 0.08m on a new discovery, the Tepetateras vein, south of the current workings; and hole BS-03 with 1.26 g/t Au and 241 g/t Ag (342 g/t AgEq) over 0.96m, on the Lulu vein, south of the current workings.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., reported a wide high grade drill intersection on the Benjamin Vein at its El Tigre project in Sonora. Hole ET-21-272 encountered 0.35 g/t Au, 388 g/t Ag, 0.14% Cu, 2.9% Pb, and 6.2% Zn (701 g/t AgEq) over 23.1m, including 0.5 g/t Au, 587 g/t Ag, 0.21% Cu, 4.3% Pb, and 9.2% Zn (1,051 g/t AgEq) over 15.1m, including 0.52 g/t Au, 1,642 g/t Ag, 0.58% Cu, 11.9% Pb, and 25.2% Zn (2,855 g/t AgEq) over 5.1m, including 0.37 g/t Au, 2,877 g/t Ag, 1.05% Cu, 14.6% Pb, and 30.8% Zn (4,375 g/t AgEq) over 2.6m.
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., released results from hole SM0-42 collared at its Santa Maria project, Chihuahua. This hole was designed to fill in a drill poor gap just to the west of the current resources. The hole intersected six gold bearing zones. Highlights are 0.49 g/t Au, 117 g/t Ag, 0.05% Pb, 0.1% Zn (143 g/t AgEq) over 3.70m, including 0.91 g/t Au, 211 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, 0.1% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (258 g/t AgEq) over 1.20m, plus 0.43 g/t Au, 227 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, 0.3% Zn and 0.01% Cu (249 g/t AgEq) over 1.71m.
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., announced the discovery of a gold-silver rich mineralized zone during the initial reconnaissance drilling at Loma Dorada target within its Plomosas project in Sinaloa. Hole LDSP21-007 encountered 5.23 g/t Au and 166 g/t Ag over 1m. “The Loma Dorada target is currently the subject of reconnaissance drilling, testing a new geological model of NW trending, Au-Ag rich veining – a possible extension 1.2 km along strike from La Colorada”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Almadex Minerals Ltd., announced the appointment of two members to its Board of Directors and the retirement of one Director after many years of valued service. The company also granted stock options to officers, employees and directors to purchase an aggregate of 1,075,000 common shares at a price of $0.31 per share which expires on December 5, 2023 (El Chato project, Puebla).
  • Capstone Mining Corp. and Mantos Copper Limited entered into a definitive agreement to combine business to create Capstone Copper Corp., a premier copper producer with transformational near-term growth. Upon completion of the transaction, former Capstone and Mantos shareholders will collectively own 60.75% and 39.25% of Capstone Copper, respectively, on a fully-diluted share basis. (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas).
  • Heliostar Metals Limited announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Cumaro project, Sonora).
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., announced the appointment of an advisory board to assist the company with the exploration and drill target definition of its Jemi rare earth elements project in Coahuila. Monumental also appointed a new Director to its Board. The Company also granted 275,000 incentive stock options to advisors at a price of $0.50 per common share for a period of five years.

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, a piece of core showing a quartz vein with massive chalcopyrite from an epithermal quartz vein system in a current producing mine in Zacatecas, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Third Week of October, 2021. 

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Boiling texture in a quartz vein.

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 42nd week of the year (October 18th to October 24th, 2021), at least 21 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico and 14 news published by the media, with nine commenting on Mexican issues, six reporting resources and developments, six announcing financial issues, four communicating production and financial results, four informing on exploration results, four discussing social issues, and two disclosing deals and corporate issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Governors of Guerrero, Chihuahua, and Durango showed their support for the mining industry during the inauguration of the XXXIV International Mining Convention in Acapulco. Jaime Gutiérrez Núñez, president of The Mining Chamber of Mexico (CAMIMEX) stated that the uncertainty will affect investments in the mining sector in Mexico. Tonatiuh Herrera Gutiérrez, Undersecretary of Promotion and Environmental Regulations of the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), warned that the agency will keep consultations on land use for the mining activity. Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís, governor of Coahuila State and Grupo Mexico signed an agreement to regularize properties in the Carboniferous Region of Coahuila. The Mining Commission of the State Congress was installed in Sonora. Octavio Alvídrez, CEO of the Mexican precious metals Fresnillo plc stated that mining in Mexico currently has an “unfavorable” environment due to recent government policies. The Mexican Geological Service (SGM) will invest MXP $55.2M between this year and the next in the exploration of lithium. Karen Flores, director of the Mining Chamber of Mexico (CAMIMEX) stressed that due to lack of mineral concessions the mining industry in Mexico loses USD $25B. Sergio Almazán, president of the Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (AIMMGM), highlighted the relevance of the mining industry for the country’s economy in the inauguration of the XXXIV International Mining Convention in Acapulco. ON EXPLORATION, In Baja California, One World Lithium announced that drill hole # 4 collared at its Salar del Diablo project, reached a total depth of 518m. In Sonora, Benjamin Hill reported that it has completed the location of 15 drill holes for the upcoming inaugural drill program at its Benjamin Hill project. In Nayarit, Sierra Madre released results of the first 11 trenches at its Tepic project. In Jalisco, Stroud provided an update of its 2021 Phase I drilling program conducted at its Santo Domingo project.  ON MINING, Excellon reported Q3, 2021 production results from its Platosa mine in Durango.  Mexus Gold announced a revenues increase at its Santa Elena mine in Sonora. Santacruz Silver announced Q3, 2021 production results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines located in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi respectively. Sierra Metals reported Q3, 2021 production results from their Bolivar and Cusi mines in Chihuahua. ON FINANCING, Azucar Minerals granted stock options to a director to purchase 400K common shares at a price of $0.09 per share (El Cobre project, Veracruz). Barksdale provided an update regarding the secured loans that the company holds in Regal Resources (San Javier, Sonora). Canasil announced an initial non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $500K and later on it increased to $650K with additional $150K via flow-through shares (Nora project, Durango). Heliostar closed the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement offering for gross proceeds of $1,300,225.50 (Cumaro project, Sonora). Xali announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $500K (El Oro project, State of Mexico). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Chesapeake announced that a 16 holes infill drill program will commence in November at its Metates project in Durango.  Discovery Silver reported an updated Mineral Resource Estimate on its flagship Cordero project in Chihuahua State. Fabled released results from three holes collared at its Santa Maria project, Chihuahua.  Golden Minerals presented results from 25 recently completed RC holes at its Rodeo property in Durango. Impact Silver released results from and underground development drilling program of its Guadalupe mine in the Zacualpan mining district in the State of Mexico. Silver Tiger announced high grade results from its ongoing drilling program conducted at its El Tigre project in Sonora. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Minera Gorrión S.A. de C.V. , a subsidiary company of Almaden Minerals Ltd., announced the completion of a Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) for the Ixtaca mine development project in Puebla. One World Lithium announced the engagements of two new consultants (Salar del Diablo project, Baja California). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, José Rosas Aispuro, Governor of Durango, highlighted that mining is synonymous with respect for human rights and has to be synonymous with respect for the environment. New Zealand Ambassador proposes to the Mexico mining industry to work with social inclusion and sustainability. The VP in Mexico of Torex Gold reiterated that its subsidiary Minera Media Luna is committed to the economic and social progress of the communities at the Guerrero mining corridor. Mulatos Mine of Alamos Gold, announced that it has reduced its lighting consumption by 70%, 10% in diesel and 25% in CO2 emissions.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • Governors of Guerrero, Chihuahua, and Durango showed their support for the mining industry during the inauguration of the XXXIV International Mining Convention in Acapulco because it represents a lever for the economic development of the country. They promised to respect the rule of law to promote the investment in the sector that generates jobs and benefits to the communities where it operates.
  • Jaime Gutiérrez Núñez, president of The Mining Chamber of Mexico Camimex stated that the suspension of new mining concessions as well as the effects of the possible approval of the electricity reform and the heavy tax burden is generating strong uncertainty in the mining sector in Mexico.
  • Tonatiuh Herrera Gutiérrez, Undersecretary of Promotion and Environmental Regulations of the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), warned that the agency will keep consultations on land use for mining activity. Jaime Gutierrez Núñez, president of CAMIMEX responded that the companies affiliated to said organization do not oppose to the consultations on land use for mining activity, but emphasized that times should be established for conducting such consultations. Likewise, the Director of CAMIMEX, Karen Flores Arredondo stressed that “the rules of the game” must be clear and based on the General Consultation Law.
  • Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís, governor of Coahuila State and Grupo Mexico signed an agreement to regularize properties in the Carboniferous Region of Coahuila. This regulation agreement represents legal certainty for more than 400 families in the Carboniferous Region.
  • The Mining Commission of the State Congress was installed, chaired by the deputy for Morena, Próspero Valenzuela Muñer to meet the demands and open a space for dialogue with the mining sector in Sonora. In that sense, he mentioned that it is important that said commission lays the foundations for the detonation of economic development and well-being in Sonora, taking advantage of the fact that this entity constitutes one of the main mining states in the country.
  • Octavio Alvídrez, CEO of the Mexican precious metals Fresnillo plc stated that mining in Mexico currently has an “unfavorable” environment due to recent government policies. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been criticized by the mining industry for his policy of not granting new concessions, as well as for what he has described as unprecedented regulatory delays. The president further fueled industry concerns by recently proposing to Congress a controversial energy constitutional reform that rejects concessions for Lithium.
  • The Mexican Geological Service (SGM) will invest MXP $55.2M between this year and the next in the exploration of lithium  with a view to finding an economically viable deposit, informed its director, Flor de María Harp. Exploration work will be carried out in 52 areas during 2021 and in another 30 in 2022. She explained that the country needs hard data so that we are not talking about what we believe, imagine or assume, but about data that have a technical basis. The official insisted that in Mexico expectations have been generated around lithium that is not real, because there is still no hard data on the potential of the mineral.
  • Karen Flores, director of the Mining Chamber of Mexico (CAMIMEX) stressed that due to lack of mineral concessions the mining industry in Mexico loses USD $25B with the consequent absence of jobs generation and the fiscal contribution. So far in this six-year term, no new concessions have been granted, in addition to the fact that there are procedures stopped that have also impacted on the continuity of some mining projects.
  • Sergio Almazán, president of the Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (AIMMGM), highlighted the relevance of the mining industry for the country’s economy in the inauguration of the XXXIV International Mining Convention in Acapulco. CAMIMEX, in its 2020 report stated that the industry currently generates around 408,000 direct jobs, plus almost 2 million indirect jobs. It means that many Mexican families literally live from mining. Mining activity stands out as the fifth earner of foreign currency to the country. He also highlighted that Mexican mining is a formal, modern, sustainable, safe, fiscally responsible industry, with competitive salaries and high quality standards.

ON EXPLORATION

  • One World Lithium Inc., announced that drill hole # 4 collared at its Salar del Diablo project in Baja California, reached a total depth of 518m and that sampling has been completed between 331 to 338m and a second zone between 460 to 518m. Samples have been submitted to the lab and results will be released once are received.
  • Benjamin Hill Mining Corp., announced that it has completed the location of 15 drill holes for the upcoming inaugural drill program at its Benjamin Hill project in Sonora. The goal of the drill program is to better understand the behavior of the mineralization at depth and drill-test the continuity of high-grade mineralization structures that are thought to be open down dip and on strike. 
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., released results of the first 11 trenches at its Tepic project. Highlights include TZ005 with 68 g/t Ag and 0.3 g/t Au (91 g/t AgEq) over 10.5m; TZ011 with 39 g/t Ag and 1.06 g/t Au (119 g/t AgEq) over 10.1m,; and TZ 011A with 54 g/t Ag and 6.52 g/t Au (43 g/t AgEq) over 9.2m.
  • Stroud Resources Ltd., provided an update of its 2021 Phase I drilling program conducted at its Santo Domingo project in Jalisco. Stroud has completed 14 diamond holes for a total of 5,725m with the aim to explore the extent of known vein-hosted silver mineralization that run parallel to the existing La Raya and Guadalupe vein systems. Sampling and assaying of the drill core has begun and results will be released once they become available.

ON MINING

  • Excellon Resources Inc., reported Q3, 2021 production results from its Platosa mine in Durango. The company mined 21,592 tonnes and milled 21,302 tonnes of 526 g/t Ag, 4.9% Pb, and 5.4% Zn with metallurgical recoveries of 90.9%, 81.2%, and 78.3% respectively to produce 326.7K Oz Ag, 1.87M Lb Pb, and 1.98M Lb Zn (521.2K Oz AgEq).
  • Mexus Gold US announced a revenues increase at its Santa Elena mine in Sonora. “Mineralized material run through the crushing circuit and placed on the heap leach pad is currently assaying at an average of 4.6 g/t Au and 8 g/t Ag. The company will begun a new round of blast hole drilling on October 18th. These efforts will produce 15,000 tons of high-grade gold material for processing through the crushing/leaching circuit”. These efforts indicate a potential 1.5M Oz Au resource on the property.
  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., announced Q3, 2021 production results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines located in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi respectively. At Zimapan mine, Hidalgo, the company milled and processed 186,642 tonnes of 73 g/t Ag, 0.6% Pb, 2.53% Zn, and 0.35% Cu to produce 313.5K Oz Ag, 2.26M Lb Pb, 8.39M Lb Zn, and 1.1M Lb Cu (867.2K Oz AgEq). At Rosario mine, San Luis Potosi, the company milled and processed 2,306 tonnes of 41 g/t Ag, 0.15 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 1.2% Zn to produce 2,548 Oz Ag, 8,960 Lb Pb, and 53.8K Lb Zn (5,698 Oz AgEq).
  • Sierra Metals Inc., reported Q3, 2021 production results from their Bolivar and Cusi mines in Chihuahua. At Bolivar mine, Chihuahua, the company processed 364,941 tonnes of 0.61% Cu, 11 g/t Ag, and 0.1 g/t Au at metallurgical recoveries of 73.06%, 71.97%, and 73.23% respectively to produce 3.6M Lb Cu, 95K Oz Ag, and 899 Oz Au (796K Oz AgEq or 4.53M Lb CuEq). At Cusi mine, Chihuahua, Sierra Metals processed 61,071 tonnes of 161 g/t Ag, 0.18 g/t Au and 0.6% Pb at metallurgical recoveries of 82.63%, 55.89%, and 82.64% respectively to produce 261K Oz Ag, 193 Oz Au and 695K Lb Pb (306K Oz AgEq).

ON FINANCING

  • Azucar Minerals Ltd., granted stock options to a director to purchase 400K common shares at a price of $0.09 per share, which expire on February 28, 2024 (El Cobre project, Veracruz).
  • Barksdale Resources Corp., provided an update regarding the secured loans that the company holds in Regal Resources Inc. Regal owes approximately $1.8M to Barksdale. Regal has until October 24, 2021 to file a cash-flow forecast that needs to be reviewed and signed by its proposal trustee.  If Regal is unable to repay its creditors or fails to put forward a proposal that is accepted by the creditors, it will enter bankruptcy (San Javier, Sonora).
  • Canasil Resources Inc., announced an initial non-brokered private placement of up to 4M units at a price of $0.125 for total gross proceeds of up to $500K. In addition to the non-brokered private placement the company will include up to 1M flow-through shares at $0.15 per flow-through share for a total of $150K. Canasil will use the gross proceeds from the non-brokered private placement to fund drill programs of their projects in Durango and Zacatecas (Nora and La Esperanza projects, Durango-Zacatecas).
  • Heliostar Metals Limited, closed the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement offering of up to 5,714,285 units at a price of $0.70 per unit for gross proceeds of $1,300,225.50. Part of the gross proceeds will be used to advance their Mexican projects, focusing primarily on the proposed Cumaro drill program in Q4, 2021, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.
  • Xali Gold Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $500K. “Approximately CAD $250K of the gross proceeds will be used to further our permitting and targeting for drilling programs on our gold-silver projects and approximately CAD $250K will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes”  (El Oro project, State of Mexico).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Chesapeake Gold Corp., announced that a 16 holes infill drill program will commence in November at its Metates project in Durango. This infill program will consists of 6,700m with holes ranging from 250 to 650m depth, and will be drilled with the same orientation to maintain consistency with earlier drilling. “The infill drill program will further define the geological structural controls, expand drill density, and provide additional composite metallurgical samples for variability testing”.
  • Discovery Silver Corp., reported an updated Mineral Resource Estimate on its flagship Cordero project in Chihuahua State. The company reported Measured + Indicated Resources for 541M tonnes with grades of  20 g/t Ag,  0.6 g/t Au, 0.3% Pb, and 0.5% Zn (48 g/t AgEq), for a total of 344M Oz Ag, 1.04M Oz Au, 3,424M Lb Pb, and 6,132M Lb Zn (837M Oz AgEq), and Inferred Resources for  108M tonnes of 14 g/t Ag, 0.03 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, and 0.4% Zn (34 g/t AgEq) for a total of 49M Oz Ag, 99K Oz Au, 451M Lb Pb, and 909M Lb Zn (119M Oz AgEq). The Resource is pit-constrained with an estimated waste-to-ore ratio of 1.1 and is supported by 224,000m of drilling in 517 drill holes and reinterpreted structural and geological models of the deposit. 87% of the contained metal is in the Measured and Indicated category.
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., released results from three holes collared at its Santa Maria project, Chihuahua. The most interesting drill interval was encountered in hole SM20-35 with 18.80m of 0.25 g/t Au, 9 g/t Ag (22 g/t AgEq), 0.2% Pb, and 0.5% Zn, including 0.50m of 1.1 g/t Au and 16 g/t Ag (73 g/t AgEq), 0.5% Pb, and 1% Zn, plus 1.65m of 1.93 g/t Au and 32 g/t Ag (131 g/t AgEq), 0.8% Pb, and 2% Zn. With these three holes concluded the Phase 1 exploration drill program and the plan now is to be focused on definition drilling to outline the previously discovered zones or trends. The company mentioned that Au is related to the northwest trending mineralized diorite dike encountered in present drilling. “The previous first modeled diorite dike was over 440 meters and now has been extended to a minimum of 1,000 meters in strike length and 400 meters at depth, open in all directions”.
  • Golden Minerals Company presented results from 25 recently completed RC holes at its Rodeo property in Durango. The company has drilled 47 RC holes totaling 3,187m, focusing on resource expansion and exploration of several targets located adjacent to the open pit. Highlights from the RC drill program include hole RRC_021_018 with 1 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag over 54m, including 2.3g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag over 18m; RRC_021_020 with 1.7g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag over 26m, including 2.4 g/t Au and 16 g/t Ag over 8m, hole RRC_021_021 with 1.3 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag over 56m, including 2.2 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag over 24m: hole RRC_021_022 with 1g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag over 56m, including 3.9 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag over 8m; and hole RRC_021_025 with 1.3 g/t Au and 6 g/t Ag over 52m, including 2.9 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag over 18m.
  • Impact Silver Corp., released results from an underground development drilling program of its Guadalupe mine in the Zacualpan mining district in the State of Mexico. High grade drill intercepts were encountered in holes MPZ-UG-023-21 with 464 g/t Ag, 0.3%Pb, and 0.8% Pb over a true width (TW) of 6.04m at Carolina Vein and 300 g/t Ag, 0.3% Pb and 1.2% Zn over a TW of 3.44m at Dolores Bajo Vein; hole MPZ-UG-024-21 with 2,186 g/t Ag, 1.7% Pb, and 3.4% Zn over a TW of 3.38m at Carolina Vein; hole MPZ-UG-025-21 with 425 g/t Ag, 0.3% Pb, and 0.8% Zn over a TW of 3.47m at Carolina Vein and 527 g/t Ag, 0.9% Pb, and 1.9% Zn over a TW of 1.63m at Dolores Bajo Vein; hole MPZ-UG-028-21 with 486 g/t Ag, 0.3% Pb, and 1.2% Zn over a TW of 1.57m at La Rata Vein and 232 g/t Ag, 0.5% Pb, and 1% Zn over a TW of 5.94m at Kena Vein; and hole MPZ-UG-029-21 with 161 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over a TW of 2.12m at Carolina Vein, 269 g/t Ag, 0.2% Pb, and 0.4% Zn over a TW of 3.57m at Carolina Bajo Vein, and 427 g/t Ag, 0.5% Pb, and 0.6% Zn over a TW of 3.12m at Dolores Vein.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., announced high grade results from its ongoing drilling program conducted at its El Tigre project in Sonora. Highlights include hole ET 21-244 collared in the Sooy Vein with 0.16 g/t Au, 455 g/t Ag, 0.12 % Cu, 0.3% Pb, and 0.2% Zn (491 g/t AgEq) over 7.5m, including 0.33 g/t Au, 1,073 g/t Ag,  0.3% Cu, 0.8% Pb, and 0.3% Zn (1,156 g/t AgEq) over 2.5m, including 1.3 g/t Au, 3,531 g/t Ag, 1.06 % Cu, 3.6% Pb, and 1.2% Zn (3,856 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m, plus an interval in the FW zone of 0.13 g/t Au, 593 g/t Ag, 0.13% Cu, 0.3% Pb, and 0.06% Zn (624 g/t AgEq) over 1.8m, including 0.4 g/t Au, 2,030 g/t Ag, 0.46% Cu, 1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn (2,133 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m; and hole ET 21-243 collared in the Benjamin Vein with 0.02 g/t Au, 92 g/t Ag, 0.07% Cu, 0.1% Pb, and 0.1% Zn (107 g/t AgEq) over 6.8m, including 0.02 g/t Au, 138 g/t Ag, 0.07% Cu, 0.1% Pb, and 0.1% Zn (155 g/t AgEq) over 4.3m, including 0.05 g/t Au, 864 g/t Ag, 0.54% Cu, 0.5% Pb, and 1% Zn (965 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Minera Gorrión S.A. de C.V. , a subsidiary company of Almaden Minerals Ltd., announced the completion of a Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) for the Ixtaca mine development project in Puebla. The HRIA is one of the most innovative, comprehensive and proven effective tools worldwide to estimate the potential impacts and corresponding mitigation measures in favor of the human rights of the communities located within the area of ​​influence of this productive project. Minera Gorrión reiterates its commitment to the exercise of modern and avant-garde mining, absolutely committed to respecting Human Rights, caring for the environment and creation of opportunities for the communities of Ixtacamaxtitlán always with cultural relevance.
  • One World Lithium Inc., announced the engagements of Rayleigh Capital and J&L Strategic Solutions LLC,  that offer different consulting services that are mutually beneficial to increase global market awareness and different financing opportunities that are less reliant on equity offerings.  Both consultants are very familiar with green technologies  (Salar del Diablo project, Baja California).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • José Rosas Aispuro, Governor of Durango, highlighted that mining is synonymous with respect for human rights and has to be synonymous with respect for the environment.
  • Sara Meymand, New Zealand Ambassador proposed to the Mexico mining industry to work with social inclusion and sustainability. She assured during the XXIV edition of the Acapulco Mining Convention that working in inclusion development and sustainability put up the mining activity internationally, focused on the preservation of the environment, dialogue with communities, gender perspective, use of new technologies, job creation and economic growth. She also stressed the importance of promoting a social license in the mining industry, which will allow companies to act with responsibility, commitment and subject to the care of the environment.
  • The vice president in Mexico of Torex Gold Resourcers Inc., Faysal Rodríguez Valenzuela reiterated that Minera Media Luna (MML) maintains its commitment to the social and economic development of the 11 communities that make up the Guerrero mining corridor, located between the municipalities of Cocula and Eduardo Neri. He also pointed out that the social investment of each year is intended to help improve people’s quality of life and work towards the fulfillment of the sustainable development objectives.
  • Mulatos Mine of Alamos Gold, reduced its power consumption on lighting by 70%, 10% in diesel and 25% in CO2 emissions. Alamos Gold seeks to contribute to the care of the environment reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

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, boiling texture in an epithermal quartz vein system in a project in Sonora, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Third Week of July, 2021.

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Vein-Bx hosted in volcanic rocks

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 28th week of the year (July 12th to July 18th, 2021), at least 29 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico and 4 news published by the media, with nine communicating production and financial results, nine reporting on resources and developments of their properties, seven announcing financial rounds, four informing on exploration results, two commenting on Mexican issues and two discussing social issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, The Ministry of Economy of Mexico alerted the public about false information that is being disseminated on behalf of the “Undersecretariat of Mining” and recalled that it no longer exists. The Mexican Geological Service (SGM) and the Government of Hidalgo signed an agreement to join efforts on research and science to integrate a knowledge-creating system. ON EXPLORATION, In Sinaloa, Vizsla presented results from the first four holes collared at the Josephine Vein within its Panuco project. In Durango, Mithril released drilling result from its Copalquin property. In Zacatecas, Alien provided an update on the review and planning for the next phase of exploration on its Donovan 2 project. In Oaxaca, Inomin filed a NI43-101 technical report for its la Gitana project. ON MINING, Aura reported Q2, 2021 production from its Aranzazu mine in Zacatecas. First Majestic reported Q2, 2021 production results from their Mexican mine operations. Altaley presented Q2, 2021 production and financial results from its Campo Morado mine in Guerrero. Golden Minerals reported Q2, 2021 production results from its Rodeo mine in Durango. Gold Resource released Q2, 2021 production results from its Arista mine in Oaxaca. Magna Gold presented Q2, 2021 production results from its San Francisco mine in Sonora. McEwen reported Q2, 2021 production results from its El Gallo project, Sinaloa. Mexus announced that the company will be shipping approximately 1 tonne of activated carbon to USA for processing.  ON FINANCING, Almadex and Azucar Minerals granted stock options to certain directors, employees and consultants. Gatos Silver signed a definitive agreement to retire its portion of the Los Gatos JV term loan and announced a public offering to sell shares of its common stock (Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua). One World Lithium announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $2,025,000 (Salar del Diablo project, Baja California). Riverside informed that it is to receive USD $5.4M in exploration funding from BHP to advance four copper projects in Sonora. Orla Mining closed a non-broker prospectus financing for gross proceeds of USD $35M (Camino Rojo project, Zacatecas).  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Discovery Silver released results from 13 drill holes collared at its Cordero project in Chihuahua. Fabled announced results from its ongoing drilling program at Santa Maria project in Chihuahua. Avino presented results from Phase 1 of the drill campaign conducted at its Avino mine in Durango. GoGold released results from eleven drill holes collared at its Los Ricos North project in Jalisco. Golden Tag presented results from a drill hole collared at the Fernandez Zone within its San Diego property in Durango. Great Panther announced Q2, 2021 production results from their Topia and Guanajuato Mine Complex located in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. IMPACT informed that it has completed phase 1 of the Veta Negra drilling program in the Zacualpan mining district, State of Mexico. Kootenay hired Blue Coast Research to conduct metallurgical testing on its la Negra property in Sonora. Prime Mining released drill results from its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa.  Silver Tiger announced that it continue intersecting high grade mineralization at its El Tigre project in Sonora.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, no relevant news. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Grupo México donated 8,000 native trees to Hermosillo, Sonora. The Government of Zacatecas along with representatives of the mining companies Fresnillo plc and Capstone Gold began with the Tree Donation Program.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • The Ministry of Economy of Mexico alerted the public about false information that is being disseminated on behalf of the “Undersecretariat of Mining” and recalled that it no longer exists. Through a press release, the agency indicated that it has no relationship with the “Commission National Mining Reactivation and Sustainable Production Mexico 2021”, nor with the “Project for Reactivation and Sustainable Production”, nor with the “Guide to Good Operating Practices”, which is supposedly being prepared by the “Undersecretary of Mining of the Government of Mexico”. According to Article 243 of the Federal Criminal Code, the crime of falsifying public documents will be punishable by imprisonment from four to eight years.
  • The Mexican Geological Service (SGM) and the Government of Hidalgo signed an agreement to join efforts on research and scienceto integrate a knowledge-creating system, for the benefit of future generations. Objectives are established to work together on two projects: Comarca Minera Geopark and LABChico: Mineral del Chico Underground Laboratory.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Vizsla Silver Corp., presented results from the first four holes collared at the Josephine Vein within its Panuco project. Highlights include hole NP-21-132 with 2.16 g/t Au, 599 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, and 1% Zn (797 g/t AgEq)  over 2.5m, including 12.4 g/t Au, 3,320 g/t Ag, 1.8% Pb, and 4.9% Zn (4,431 g/t AgEq) over 0.3m; and hole NP-21-139 with 3.4 g/t Au, 426 g/t Ag, 1% Pb, and 5.5% Zn (869 g/t AgEq) over 1.45m, including 3.91 g/t Au, 502 g/t Ag, 1.2% Pb, and 6.8% Zn (1,020 g/t AgEq) over 1.15m. “Drilling intersected veining of 90m strike, 190m depth where it remains open.  Ground Electromagnetic (EM) has mapped the vein over 1.7 km”.
  • Mithril Resources Ltd., released drilling result from its Copalquin property in Durango. Bonanza grade was intersected in hole CDH-077 collared at El Refugio Area with 80.3 g/t Au and 705 g/t Ag over 8.26m, including 106 g/t Au and 913 g/t Ag over 6.26m, including 837 g/t Au and 6,680 g/t Ag over 0.77m. Other high grade intercepts were encountered in hole CDH-075 with 13.8 g/t Au and 83 g/t Ag over 2.7m, plus 10.9 g/t Au and 364 g/t Ag over 4.25m, including 16.3 g/t Au and 414 g/t Ag over 2.65m, plus 1.02 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag over 2m, plus 0.84 g/t Au and 35 g/t Ag over 4.5m; and hole CDH-076 with 0.93 g/t Au and 16 g/t Ag over 2.4m, plus 2.06 g/t Au and 95 g/t Ag over 5m, plus 0.86 g/t Au and 39 g/t Ag over 1m. Drilling results continue expanding the El Refugio structure down dip with high-grade and bonanza grade gold-silver intercepts.
  • Alien Metals Ltd., provided an update on the review and planning for the next phase of exploration on its Donovan 2 project in Zacatecas. Alien has received this property back from Capstone after ceasing their agreement. After reviewing all the exploration work carried out at Donovan 2, Alien concluded that the original high-priority targets identified by Alien prior to Capstone’s involvement remain untested. In the eastern area of Donovan 2 property, a north-south grid to collect 55 Metal Mobile Ion (MMI) surface geochemical samples has been designed and work has commenced. “The Company is finalizing an initial 4-to-6 hole program for about 800m to target the Los Alamos and Cerro de la Cruz targets once a review of the current drilling permit status is completed, the MMI results are received and reprocessing of the geophysics are completed to ensure the Company has used every available piece of data to maximize confidence in the drilling program”. 
  • Inomin Mines Inc., filed a NI43-101 technical report for its la Gitana project located in Oaxaca. La Gitana is an advance property where a substantial near-surface, low-sulphidation, epithermal gold-silver mineral system has been outlined. “Previous drilling programs at La Gitana in 2004 – 2006 by Chesapeake Gold Corp., intersected gold-silver mineralization in a core zone 400 to 500m long, 50 to 150m wide and 50 to 300m depth, with grades ranging from 0.25 to 27.8 g/t gold and 5 to 2,330 g/t silver”.  The gold-silver mineralization is open to expansion to the southeast and at depth from drill-tested areas.  Inomine plans to conduct a phase 2 drilling campaign and complete a preliminary resource estimation.

ON MINING

  • Aura Minerals inc., reported Q2, 2021 production from its Aranzazu mine in Zacatecas. It produced 5,120 Oz Au, 84,263 Oz Ag, and 6.78M Lb Cu for a total of 22,590 GEO (Oz AuEq).
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., reported Q2, 2021 production and financial results from their Mexican mine operations. The table below, shows mine by mine figures:
MineOre ProcessedTonnes per DayAg Grade (g/t)Au Grade (g/t)Ag RecoveryAu RecoveryAg Oz ProducedAu Oz ProducedAgEq Oz produced
San Dimas202,3822,2243013.0795%96%1,868,03119,2273,176,725
Santa Elena234,3812,576811.1793%96%565,4538,4531,140,398
La Encantada242,8392,6691380.0278%90%840,541102847,502
TOTAL679,6027,4691671.3289%94%3,27,402527,7825,164,625
  • Altaley Mining Corporation presented Q2, 2021 production and financial results from its Campo Morado mine in Guerrero. The company milled 164.1K tonnes of 1.2 g/t Au, 129 g/t Ag, 1.1% Pb, and 4.5% Zn with metallurgical recoveries of 22%, 46%, 31%, and 74% respectively to produce 11.9K tonnes of Zn concentrate and 2.7K tonnes of Pb concentrate. Altaley reported revenues of USD $13.9M from the sale of Zn concentrates and USD $2.27M for the Pb concentrates for total revenue of USD $16.2M.
  • Golden Minerals Company reported Q2, 2021 production results from its Rodeo mine in Durango.  The company mined 164,954 tonnes from which it processed 49,552 tonnes of 3.6 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 78% and 83.9% respectively to produce 3,452 Oz Au and 11,225 Oz Ag (3,230 Oz AuEq).
  • Great Panther Mining Limited announced Q2, 2021 production results from their Topia and Guanajuato Mine Complex located in Durango and Guanajuato respectively. At Topia, Durango, the company processed 15,520 tonnes of 432 g/t Ag, 1.07 g/t Au with metallurgical recoveries of 93.5% and 60.3% respectively, to produce 201,339 Oz Ag, 321 Oz Au, 799.7K Lb Pb, and 1.07M Lb Zn (3123K Oz AgEq or 3,674 Oz AuEq. At the Guanajuato Mine Complex, the company processed 40,477 tonnes of 118 g/t Ag and 1.58 g/t Au with metallurgical recoveries of 87.4% and 87.6% respectively, to produce 133K Oz Ag and 1,786 Oz Au (284.9K Oz AgEq or 3,352 Oz AuEq).
  • Gold Resource Corporation released Q2, 2021 production results from its Arista mine in Oaxaca. The company milled 129,590 tonnes from Arista and El Aguila mines with grades of 1.91 g/t Au, 79 g/t Ag, 0.36% Cu, 1.6% Pb, and 3.6% Zn at Arista mine and 2.58 g/t Au and 47 g/t Ag at El Aguila to produced 5.7K Oz Au, 270.3K Oz Ag, 817.6K Lb Cu, 2.7M Lb Pb, and 7.15M Lb Zn.
  • Magna Gold Corp., presented Q2, 2021 production results from its San Francisco mine in Sonora. It mined 1.23M tonnes  of 0.43 g/t Au and processed 1.35M tonnes (all sources) of 0.49 g/t Au to produce 11.7K Oz Au and 8.4K Oz Ag. The company sold 11.8K Oz Au and 8.4K Oz Ag.
  • McEwen Mining Inc., reported that it produced 1,300 Gold Equivalent Oz (GEOs) during Q2, 2021 at its El Gallo project, Sinaloa from residual leaching of the heap leach pad.
  • Mexus Gold US announced that the company will be shipping approximately 1 tonne of activated carbon to USA for processing which is believed to contain 4K grams of Au.

ON FINANCING

  • Almadex Minerals Ltd., granted stock options to certain directors, employees and consultants to purchase 757,800 common shares at an exercise price of $0.30 per share which expire on July 8, 2023 (El Chato project, Puebla).
  • Azucar Minerals Ltd., granted stock options to certain directors, employees and consultants to purchase 793,800 common shares at an exercise price of $0.11 per share which expire on July 8, 2023 (El Cobre project, Veracruz).
  • Gatos Silver Inc., signed a definitive agreement to retire its attributable portion of the los Gatos JV term loan which is approximately $154.8M, and announced a public offering to sell shares of its common stock to raise funds to achieve a more cost-efficient capital structure, including the potential extinguishment of the Los Gatos Joint Venture’s term loan, and to create additional liquidity in Gatos Silver’s common stock. The company plans to offer 6,500,000 shares of common stock and for certain selling stockholders to offer 1.82M shares of common stock. In addition, Gatos Silver and the selling stockholders intend to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 975K and 273K additional shares of common stock, respectively, at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions (Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua).
  • One World Lithium announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $2,025,000. It will allocate the net proceeds as follows: Salar del Diablo Lithium property southern and possible middle portion of the property drilling program CAD $750K; initial lab tests, design of and completing engineer design work for a pilot plant for the company’s critical fluid separation technology CAD $750K and CAD $525K for working capital.  
  • Riverside Resources Inc., informed that it is to receive USD $5.4M in exploration funding from BHP to advance four copper projects as part of the expanding copper exploration program with BHP in Sonora.  The properties to advance are Chuin, Palofierro, Sinoquipe, and Peñitas. Chuin and Palofierro are drill-ready properties, and drilling permits are underway, while Sinoquipe and Peñitas will be subject to Magneto-Telluric surveys which are expected to commence after contractors are secured.  This new funding of at least USD 5.4M is in addition to the USD $1.3M allocated for the next generative phase of exploration work, which began two months ago.
  • Orla Mining Ltd., closed a non-broker prospectus financing for gross proceeds of USD $35M consisting of 9,085,263 common shares priced at CAD $4.75 per common share. Part of the net proceeds will be used for development activities and at its Camino Rojo Oxide Gold Project in Zacatecas, and for general corporate purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Discovery Silver Corp., released results from 13 drill holes collared at its flagship Cordero project in Chihuahua. These results are part of the recently completed phase 1 drill program and are going to be incorporated in a new resource estimate in Q3, 2021 and PEA in Q4, 2021. Highlights include hole C21-457 with 1,570 g/t Ag, 16.25 g/t Au, 7% Pb, and 19% Zn (3,934 g/t AgEq) over 1.1m; hole C21-435 with 122 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 1.1% Pb, and 1.9% Zn (245 g/t AgEq) over 28.5m, including 1,960 g/t Ag, 0.32 g/t Au, 15.4% Pb, and 21.6% Zn (3,424 g/t AgEq) over 1.1m; hole C21-437 with 87 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 0.9% Pb, and 0.8% Zn (157 g/t AgEq) over 58.8m, including 1,480 g/t Ag, 0.22 g/t Au, 13.1% Pb, and 20% Zn (2,789 g/t AgEq) over 1.2m; hole C21-436 with 1,385 g/t Ag, 0.49 g/t Ag, 7.5% Pb, and 10.9% Zn (2,139 g/t AgEq) over 1.4m; hole C21-435 with 385 g/t Ag, 1.15 g/t Au, 5.9% Pb, and 11.9% Zn (1,179 g/t AgEq) over 4.5m; and hole C21-459 with 420 g/t Ag, 0.32 g/t Au, 8.8% Pb, and 14.9% Zn (1,374 g/t AgEq) over 1.3m. In addition, “the company has completed 17,200 m (47 holes) as part of its Phase 2 drill program which will be ongoing through the remainder of the year. Phase 2 drilling will be focused on three key areas: (1) upgrading inferred resources for inclusion in a prefeasibility study; (2) resource expansion of bulk-tonnage mineralization; and (3) testing of the width, grade and continuity of the extensive high-grade vein systems that transect the deposit. There are currently four drill rigs operating on site”.
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., announced results from the current ongoing drilling program at its Santa Maria project in Chihuahua. The most significant drill intercept was encountered in hole SM20-20 with 2.5 g/t Au, 32 g/t Ag, 0.6% Pb, 0.5% Zn, and 0.03% Cu (161 g/t AgEq) over 30.7m, including 3.33 g/t Au, 41 g/t Ag, 0.8% Pb, 0.5% Zn, and 0.04% Cu (213 g/t AgEq) over 22.70m, including 5.61 g/t Au, 64 g/t Ag, 1.4% Pb, 0.9% Zn, and 0.06% Cu (353 g7t AgEq) over 11.60m, including 7.24 g/t Au, 80 g/t Ag, 1.9% Pb, 1.1% Zn, and 0.07% Cu (453 g/t AgEq) over 7.24m. “The Company has now completed drill holes SM20-01 to SM20-24 for a total of approximately 6,500 meters of the increased 9,200 meter drill program drilled to date. Hole SM20-25 is currently in progress”.
  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., presented results from Phase 1 of the drill campaign, which is looking to add measured and indicated resources to its Avino mine in Durango. The most significant drill intersects on El Trompo Vein were encountered in holes  TR-21-01 with 0.56 g/t Au, 177 g/t Ag,  0.5% Pb, and .7% Zn (577 g/t AgEq) over 0.95m; and hole TR-21-03 with 0.42 g/t Au, 276 g/t Ag, 0.1% Cu, 0.3% Pb, and 0.1% Zn (322 g/t AgEq) over 2.75m. On the Santiago Vein, the most significant drill intercepts was encountered in hole ST-21-04 with 2.62 g/t Au, 643 g/t Ag, 0.25% Cu, 0.3% Pb, and 0.3% Zn (865 g/t AgEq) over 0.8m. On the La Malinche Vein, the best drill intersects were encountered in hole LM-21-04 with 1.68 g/t Au, 252 g/t Ag, 1.17% Cu, 0.9% Pb, and 10.3% Zn (820 g/t AgEq) over 1.4m; and hole LM-21-06 with 1.56 g/t Au, 364 g/t Ag, 2.9% Cu, 0.7% Pb, and 0.06% Zn (786 g/t AgEq) over 0.90m.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., released results from eleven drill holes collared at its Los Ricos North project in Jalisco. Drilling highlights include hole LRGCS-21-047 collared at Casados Area with 0.76 g/t Au and 145 g/t Ag (2.71 g/t AuEq or 203 g/t AgEq) over 22.6m, including 4.31 g/t Au and 864 g/t Ag (15.84 g/t AuEq or 1,188 g/t AgEq) over 2m; and hole LRGCS-21-056 also collared at Casados Area with 0.96 g/t Au and 187 g/t Ag (3.45 g/t AuEq or 259 g/t AgEq) over 45.9m, including 6.17 g/t Au and 1,050 g/t Ag (20.17 g/t AuEq or 1,513 g/t AgEq) over 4.5m, including 13.01 g/t Au and 2,034 g/t Ag (40.12 g/t AuEq or 3,009 g/t AgEq) over 2m, including  19.87 g/t Au and 2,877 g/t Ag (58.23 g/t AuEq or 4,367 g/t AgEq).
  • Golden Tag Resources Ltd., presented results from hole 21-58 drilled at a steep angle toward the southwest to test the top of the Fernandez Zone resource envelope within its San Diego property in Durango. This hole intersected 0.13 g/t Au, 151 g/t Ag, 1.4% Pb, 1.7% Zn and 0.12% Cu (306 g/t AgEq) over a length of 6.55m, plus 0.14 g/t Au, 96 g/t Ag, 1.9% Pb, 1.6% Zn, and 0.07% Cu (258 g/t AgEq) over 16.34 g/t AgEq, plus 0.04 g/t Au, 0.8% Pb, 0.8% Zn, and 0.06% Cu (111 g/t AgEq) over 191.57m. Future drilling will be designed to determine if the grade improvement can be extended to the west and at depth below hole 21-58.
  • IMPACT Silver Corp., informed that it has completed phase 1 of the Veta Negra drilling program in the Zacualpan mining district, State of Mexico. The most significant drill intercept was encountered in hole Z21-05 with 187 g/t Ag0.98 g/t Au, 1.2% Pb, and 2.5% Zn over 13.85m. “The Veta Negra vein system was mined historically as both an open pit and from underground. Two north-northwest trending parallel veins enclosed by stockwork mineralized host rock are currently being mined by IMPACT over widths averaging 14 metres in the open pit”.
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., hired Blue Coast Research to conduct metallurgical testing on its la Negra property in Sonora with the aim to further investigate the best recovery process for La Negra along the path towards an initial mineral resource estimate and a preliminary economic assessment (PEA).
  • Prime Mining Corp., released drill results from the Noche Buena deposit within its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Highlights include hole 21NB-06 with 1.29 g/t Au and 61 g/t Ag over a true width (TW) of 28.9m , including5.74 g/t Au and 108 g/t Ag over a TW of 3.6m; hole 21NB-09 with 2.89 g/t Au and 62 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.4m, including 18 g/t Au and 209 g/t Ag over a TW of 1.2m; hole 21NB-08 with 1.23 g/t Au and 28 g/t Ag over a TW of 8.9m, including 6.08 g/t Au and 91 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.9m; hole 21NB-10 with 0.7 g/t Au and 28 g/t Ag over a TW of 15.6m, including 3.73 g/t Au and 109 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.9m; hole 21NB-05 with 0.77 g/t Au and 48 g/t Ag over a TW of 2.9m, including 2.67 g/t Au and 140 g/t Ag over a TW of 0.4m; hole 21NB-11 with 1 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag over a TW of 5.2m;and hole 21NB-07 with 0.65 g/t Au and 21 g/t Ag over 10.4m. “The Noche Buena deposit remains open at depth and further along strike”.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., announced that it continue intersecting high grade mineralization at its El Tigre project in Sonora. Highlights from the ongoing drilling program include hole ET-21-231, collared at the Sooy Vein with 303 g/t Ag, 0.11 g/t Au, 0.13% Cu, 0.8% Pb, and 0.7% Zn (369 g/t AgEq) over 10.8m, including 801 g/t Ag, 0.35 g/t Au, 0.71% Cu, 3.1% Pb, and 2.8% Zn (2,063 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m, and 125 g/t Ag,  0.17 g/t Au, 0.06% Cu, 0.5% Pb, and 0.7% Zn (180 g/t AgEq) over 21.9m, including 534 g/t Ag, 0.09 g/t Au, 0.2% Cu, 2.4% Pb, and 4% Zn (749 g/t AgEq) over 1.5m; and hole ET-21-235 collared at the Benjamin Vein with 89 g/t Ag, 0.1 g/t Au, 0.12% Cu, 0.8% Pb, and 1.1% Zn (161 g/t AgEq) over 6.3m, including 391 g/t Ag, 0.13 g/t Au, 0.56% Cu, 3.6% Pb, and 4.4% Zn (686 g/t AgEq) over 1m.

 ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • No relevant news.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Grupo México donated 8,000 native trees to Hermosillo, Sonora. The procedures to request the specimens began six months ago through the civil association Actions for a Better World by Karina López Ivich, who is the director and also climate leader of Climate Reality.
  • The Government of Zacatecas along with representatives of the mining companies Fresnillo plc and Capstone Gold began with the Tree Donation Program. Mining companies settled in the entity, has set a goal of delivering 10 thousand trees with the commitment to plant them in suitable places, carry out the necessary care and maintenance and guarantee their survival.

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, a volcanic-hosted epithermal vein-breccia from a prospect in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of July, 2021.

/ gambusinoprospectormexico / Leave a comment

Flow Banded Rhyolite Dome

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 26th week of the year (June 28th to July 04th, 2021), at least 25 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico and 5 news published by the media, with nine disclosing deals and corporate issues, seven announcing financial rounds, three reporting on resources and developments, three informing on exploration results, three communicating production and financial results, three commenting on Mexican issues, and two discussing social issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) authorized the expansion of the El Boleo mine in Baja California. Guanajuato Silver announced that it will restart activities at its El Cubo mine in October 2021. Mexico was the world’s leading silver producer in 2020. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Silver Spruce announced it has contracted regional ASTER and LANDSAT spectral analysis on their Mezquite, Jackie and Diamante mining properties. In Chihuahua, Reyna Silver announced that it has started a 10,000m drilling program at its Batopilas project, and reported that a second drill rig has been added to speed up the completion of the current drilling  program conducted at its Guigui project.  ON MINING, Consolidated Zinc provided an operation update of its Plomosas mine in Chihuahua. Magna Gold announced it has achieved full-scale commercial production at its San Francisco mine in Sonora. Mexus Gold announced that it has sold gold doré as a result of recent production at its Santa Elena mine in Sonora.  ON FINANCING, Altaley restructured a USD $$26,027,240 debt with Trafigura and Nyrstar (Campo Morado mine, Guerrero). Comet issued 5M of fully paid ordinary shares (Santa Teresa property, Baja California Norte).  Defiance Silver granted stock options to certain directors and officers (San Acacio property, Zacatecas). Orla subscribed a non-brokered prospectus financing for gross proceeds of USD $35M (Camino Rojo project, Zacatecas). Silver Wolf received approval from OTC Markets Group Inc. to commence trading on the OTCQB Venture Market under the ticker symbol “GYRRF” (Ana Maria and El Laberinto properties in Durango). Silver Bull closed a private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $500K (Sierra Mojada project, Coahuila). Vista Gold received a final payment for $1M from Prime Mining to complete the agreement on the Guadalupe de Los Reyes property in Sinaloa.  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Chesapeake drilled five core drill holes at its Metates project in Durango to provide core for a comprehensive metallurgical testwork program and to confirm the higher-grade nature of the Metates intrusive hosted mineralization. Prime Mining reported new results from its ongoing drill program conducted at its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Silver Tiger released results from its ongoing drilling program conducted at its El Tigre project in Sonora. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Capstone published its 2020 sustainability report (Cozamine mine, Zacatecas). Discovery Silver presented results of its annual general meeting of shareholders (Cordero project, Chihuahua). Fortuna and Roxgold completed its previously announced business combination (San Jose mine, Oaxaca). GoGold presented its first sustainability report (Los Ricos project, Jalisco). Gold79 announced results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Taviche project, Oaxaca). GR Silver appointed its Chairman of the Board of Directors (Plomosas project, Sinaloa).  Maverix acquired royalty portfolio from Pan American Silver, including Hernandez property in Sonora.  Sonoro presented results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Cerro Caliche project, Sonora).  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, The company Minera Media Luna (MML), a subsidiary of Torex Gold Resources, convened the second edition of the “Enchulemos Juntos Nuestra Comunidad” (let’s improve our community together) program in the town of Nuevo Balsas, Guerrero. The Secretary of Tourism, Eduardo Yarto delivered two S stamps to Fresnillo plc, after it concluded its processes of renewal of procedures within its facilities to implement good sustainable practices.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) approved on a conditional basis the expansion of the Environmental Impact Manifestation (MIA) requested by Minera y Metalúrgica del Boleo for the exploitation of copper, cobalt and zinc in 446 hectares for 16 years in the municipality of Mulegé, in Baja California. 2,481 participants representing 89% voted In favor of the expansion.
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., announced that it will restart activities at its El Cubo mine, Guanajuato in October 2021, which is expected to employ more than 200 miners in the capital, with priority in hiring those who were fired in the closure two years ago.
  • Mexico was the world’s leading silver producer in 2020 maintained the leadership in silver production on a global scale in 2020, with 5,541M tonnes. The Mexican mining company Fresnillo plc owned by Grupo Bal and linked to the Baillères family, is the largest company primary silver producer in the world.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Silver Spruce Resources Inc., announced it has contracted Strategic Consultants IGIS for a regional ASTER and LANDSAT spectral analysis on their Mezquite, Jackie and Diamante mining properties in Sonora. This study will help to understand the structural and lithological controls in a regional context and provide additional detail on the mineral by mineral distribution over each of the properties. It also will help to outline alteration pattern for enhanced target definition in each of the mining properties.
  • Reyna Silver Corp., announced that it has started a 10,000m drilling program at its Batopilas project in Chihuahua. The program is focused on testing targets identified in the spring of 2021 exploration campaign, which discovered multiple extensions to the 30 known veins in the district, of which two new veins returned high-grade values up to 42,302 g/t Ag and 210.4 g/t Au. The company also announced that a second drill rig has been added to its Guigui project in the Santa Eulalia mining district in Chihuahua to extend and speed up the completion of the ongoing drilling program. The company has completed 8,000m of the 12,000m planned and this second rig will allow to speed up the completion of the entire Phase 1 drilling by the end of July, 2021. Results of the Phase 1 drilling campaign will be released soon after.

ON MINING

  • Consolidated Zinc Limited provided an operation update of its Plomosas mine in Chihuahua. The company announced that it processed 3,958 tonnes of ore in May, 2021 for 719 tonnes of zinc concentrates and 184 tonnes of lead concentrates at its Plomosas and Aldama plants in Chihuahua. The company intends to continue processing through both plants until ore stockpiles are depleted and the Plomosas plant sustains the targeted 4,500tpm process rate.
  • Magna Gold Corp., announced it has achieved full-scale commercial production at its San Francisco mine in Sonora. Magna is on track to achieve its earlier stated 2021 guidance of 55K-65K Oz Au production, since it has completed the necessary pre-stripping and substantially lowered the mine strip ratio from ~8:1 to ~3:1. At San Francisco, the company anticipates a production run rate of ~6K Oz Au/month in Q3 and looks to exit the year at a run rate of ~7.5K Oz Au/month.
  • Mexus Gold US announced that it has sold gold doré as a result of recent production at its Santa Elena mine in Sonora. The sales netted the company $24K. “The company is in the process of shipping activated carbon to the U.S. for processing. It is believed that this material contains up to 75 OZ Au.  Mexus is also adding liner to the existing heap leach pad which will allow for increased production. Material currently being mined continues to test in the 5.66g/t Au range”.

ON FINANCING

  • Altaley Mining Corporation restructured a USD $26,027,240 debt with Trafigura Mexico S.A. de C.V., and Nyrstar Canada (Holdings) Ltd.  Terms of the total debt restructured was USD $14,720,840 on the Tahuehueto project in Durango for a term of 32 months, an London interbank offered interest rate (LIBOR) of 6% (1 year), and a grace period of 8 months; USD $4,024,678 on the Campo Morado mine in Guerrero for a term of 26 months, a LIBOR of 5% (3 months), and a grace period of 8 months; and USD $7,281,722 on the Campo Morado mine in Guerrero for a term of 26 months and a LIBOR of 10%.
  • Comet Resources Ltd., issued 5M of fully paid ordinary shares upon the exercise of unlisted options exercisable at $0.02 each on or before 30 June 2021.  (Santa Teresa property, Baja California Norte).
  • Defiance Silver Corp., granted stock options to certain directors and officers to purchase an aggregate of 1.425M of common shares at an exercise price of $0.90. The options are exercisable for a ten-year term expiring June 30, 2031 (San Acacio property, Zacatecas).
  • Orla Mining Ltd., subscribed a non-brokered prospectus financing for gross proceeds of USD $35M, consisting of 9,085,263 common shares priced at CAD $4.75 per common share. Part of the net proceeds will be used for development activities at its Camino Rojo Oxide Gold project in Zacatecas. The offering is expected to close on or about July 14, 2021.
  • Silver Wolf Exploration Ltd., received approval from OTC Markets Group Inc. to commence trading on the OTCQB Venture Market under the ticker symbol “GYRRF” (Ana Maria and El Laberinto properties in Durango).
  • Silver Bull Resources Inc., closed a private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $500K. Net proceeds of the private placement will be used by Silver Bull for general working capital purposes   (Sierra Mojada project, Coahuila).
  • Vista Gold Corp., received a final payment for $1M from Prime Mining Corp. to complete the agreement on the Guadalupe de Los Reyes property in Sinaloa. With this $1.0M payment, Vista has no remaining right to be granted the royalties and back-in rights.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Chesapeake Gold Corp., drilled five core drill holes at its Metates project in Durango to provide core for a comprehensive metallurgical testwork program and to confirm the higher-grade nature of the Metates intrusive hosted mineralization. Significant drill intercepts were encountered in hole CKG21-086 with 1.15 g/t Au and 49 g/t Ag (1.80 g/t AuEq or 135 g/t AgEq) over a true width (TW) of 432m, including 1.21 g(t Au and 417 g/t Ag (6.77 g/t AuEq or 508 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 9m, including 2.49 g/t Au and 22 g/t Ag (2.78 g/t AuEq or 20+9 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 69m, and including 2.13 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag (2.25 g/t AuEq or 170 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 57m; hole CKG21-085 with 1.13 g/t Au and 29 g/t Ag (1.53 g/t AuEq or 114 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 282m, including 1.34 g/t Au and 32 g/t Ag (1.76 g/t AuEq or 132 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 150m; and hole CKG21-084 with 1.06 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag (1.29 g/t AuEq or 97 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 135m, plus 0.86 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag (1.01 g/t AuEq or 75 g/t AgEq) over a TW of 90m.
  • Prime Mining Corp., reported new results from its ongoing drill program conducted at its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. The most significant drill intercepts were encountered in hole 21Mina-02 with 4.44 g/t Au and 1,060 g/t Ag over an estimated true width (ETW) of 4.8m, including 6.62 g/t Au and 1,398 g/t Ag over an ETW of 2m, including 6.3 g/t Au and 1,881 g/t Ag over an ETW of 1.2m; hole 21Mina-05 with 3,243 g/t Ag over an ETW of 0.74m, plus 1.45 g/t Au and 29 g/t Ag over an ETW of 1.85m; and hole 21Mina-06 with 1.72 g/t Au and 30 g/t Ag over an ETW of 3.20m.  These results are from six holes completed at Mina Area during phase I drilling. To date, 15,000m Phase I is complete and the 30,000m Phase 2 program has been started.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., released results from its ongoing drilling program conducted on the Sooy Vein at its El Tigre project in Sonora. Highlights include hole ET21-233 with 0.13 g/t Au, 491 g/t Ag, 0.08% Pb, and 0.01% Zn (510 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m, plus  0.25 g/t Au, 2,041 g/t Ag, 0.65% Cu, 1.2% Pb, and 3.6% Zn (2,271 g/t AgEq), including 4,048 g/t Ag, 0.45 g/t Au, 1.31% Cu, 0.6% Pb, and 7.3% Zn (4,461 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m; hole ET21-230 with 0.15 g/t Au, 704 g/t Ag, 0.14% Cu, 0.05% Zn (731 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m, plus 0.12 g/t Au, 193 g/t Ag, 0.09% Cu, 0.03% Pb, and 0.15 % Zn (217 g/t AgEq) over 3m, including 0.2 g/t Au, 1,080 g/t Ag, 0.55% Cu, 0.1% Pb, and 0.75% Zn (1,176 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m, plus 0.28 g/t Au, 199 g/t Ag, 0.06% Cu, 0.2% Pb, and 0.3% Zn (241 g/t AgEq) over 0.5, plus 0.41 g/t Au, 161 g/t Ag, 0.04% Cu, 0.2% Pn, and 0.4% Zn (214 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m; and hole ET21-229 with 0.13 g/t Au, 63 g/t Ag, 0.21% Cu, 0.8% Pb, and 1.6% Zn (165 g/t AgEq) over 13.5m, including 0.11 g/t Au, 83 g/t Ag, 0.27% Cu, 1% Pb, and 2% Zn (209 g/t AgEq) over 9.9m, including 0.21 g/t Au, 114 g/t Ag, 0.38% Cu, 3.7% Pb, and 8.7% Zn (542 g/t AgEq) over 1.8m.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Capstone Mining Corp., published its 2020 sustainability report.  (Cozamine mine, Zacatecas)
  • Discovery Silver Corp. presented results of voting at its annual general meeting of shareholders (Cordero project, Chihuahua).
  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., and Roxgold Inc., completed its previously announced business combination to create a global premier growth-oriented intermediate gold and silver producer (San Jose mine, Oaxaca).
  • GoGold Resources Inc., presented its first sustainability report that sets out the company’s priorities with respect to its environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices (Los Ricos project, Jalisco).
  • Gold79 Mines Ltd., announced results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Taviche project, Oaxaca).
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., appointed its Chairman of the Board of Directors (Plomosas project, Sinaloa).
  • Maverix Metals Inc., acquired royalty portfolio from Pan American Silver, including Hernandez property in Sonora. The Hernandez property, currently on exploration, is owned by First Majestic and includes a 2.5% NSR.
  • Sonoro Gold Corp., presented results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Cerro Caliche project, Sonora). 

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Minera Media Luna (MML), a subsidiary of Torex Gold Resources, convened the second edition of the “Enchulemos Juntos Nuestra Comunidad” (let’s improve our community together) program in the town of Nuevo Balsas, Guerrero. During the cleaning day, about 300 people participated, including contractors, residents and collaborators of the mining company, remodeling four public spaces: the vehicular roundabout on Gerardo Reyes Norte Street, the camellones on that same street, the sports area in the southern part and the perimeter fencing of the downtown court. The investment of the work done amounted to MXP $1.3M. Members of the Public and Community Relations areas of MML, the collaborators of 11 contractor companies, members of the Participatory Community Development Committee (CODECOP) and residents of Nuevo Balsas cleaned and reforested green areas, painted fences and garrisons, and assisted in various activities that together aim to maintain the program to improve public spaces that the mining company began last year. The effort achieved the painting of 2,300 meters of trimmings, the planting of 90 trees, the collection of five tons of garbage, and the painting of 300 square meters of fences.
  • The Secretary of Tourism in Zacatecas, Eduardo Yarto delivered two S stamps to Fresnillo plc, after it concluded its processes of renewal of procedures within its facilities to implement good sustainable practices. The Secretary underlined the disposition of Fresnillo plc, with the renewal of the certification for the golf course and the ecological park Fresnillo PLC, to offer quality services to users.

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, a flow banded rhyolite dome intruding a clay-altered rhyolitic ignimbrite sequence in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Third Week of June, 2021.

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Quartz Vein-Breccia

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 24th week of the year (June 14th to June 20th, 2021), at least 15 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico and 6 news published by the media, with seven reporting on resources and developments, five informing on exploration results, four commenting on Mexican issues, two announcing financial rounds, two discussing social issues, and one disclosing deals and corporate issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Dhipna Yanssen Weichselbaum, head of the Federal Programs in Baja California explained that 12,000 people will be consulted in Mulegé to carry out the consultation of El Boleo. The Argentine Embassy in Mexico along with the Ministry of Mining of that country carried out a working seminar with the Mexican company Baluarte Minero (Industrias Peñoles and Fresnillo PLC). The consultation for the nationalization of lithium, proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is not necessary, since, it is already owned by Mexico. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Tocvan and its JV partner Colibri reported drill results from its the El Pilar project, and Tarachi started a second drilling program on its San Javier mining concession at La Colorada gold bearing breccia pipe. In Chihuahua, Mammoth reported results from an additional 1.7km of 3D geophysical modeling conducted at its Tenoriba project. In Nayarit, Sierra Madre provided an update on the activities developed at its Tepic project. ON MINING, no relevant news. ON FINANCING, Azucar granted stock options to certain directors and officers of the company (El Cobre project, Veracruz). Advance Gold closed a private placement financing for gross proceeds of $200K (Tabasqueña project, Zacatecas). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Almaden completed a surface induced polarization geophysical (IP) program at its Ixtaca project in Puebla. GoGold released results from eight drill holes collared at its Los Ricos project in Jalisco. Silver Viper filed on SEDAR a NI 43-101 technical report supporting the maiden mineral resource estimate for its La Virginia project in Sonora. Torex released an updated mineral resource estimate for its media Luna project in Guerrero. Zacatecas Silver announced positive preliminary metallurgical test results from its Zacatecas Silver property. Excellon filed on SEDAR an independent NI 43-101 technical report for its La Platosa mine in Durango. Ridgestone announced that it filed on SEDAR a NI 43-101 technical report for its Guadalupe y Calvo project in Chihuahua.    ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, SilverCrest presented results of its annual general meeting of shareholders (Las Chispas project, Sonora).    ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Peñoles community center received population from 40 to 49 years for anticovid vaccine in Torreón. Peñoles and Fresnillo plc announced that they are training young Mexicans in seven states.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • Dhipna Yanssen Weichselbaum, head of the Federal Programs in Baja California explained that 12,000 people will be consulted in Mulegé to carry out the consultation of El Boleo. the procedure will consist of 2 phases: one is the publication of the call to know the expansion of the MIA project and then the citizen consultation that will take place in the communities of Santa Rosalía and San Ignacio, among others, which are related to the El Boleo mining company.
  • The Argentine Embassy in Mexico along with the Ministry of Mining of that country carried out a working seminar with the Mexican company Baluarte Minero (Industrias Peñoles and Fresnillo PLC). The group’s interest was particularly focused on the provinces of Neuquén, Rio Negro, Salta, Mendoza and San Juan, where Mexican businessmen expressed their intention to evaluate the possibility of investing in mining projects in the region. Technical experts and professionals from Baluarte Minero were informed about prospects for gold, silver, copper, potassium and lithium in Argentina.
  • According to experts of the Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (AIMMGM), the consultation for the nationalization of lithium, proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is not necessary, since, it is already owned by Mexico. Article 27 of the constitution clearly states that all mineral deposits that are in Mexican territory are property of the Nation, so it would not be necessary to nationalize lithium.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Tocvan Ventures Corp., and its JV partner Colibri Resource Corporation reported drill results from four RC holes collared at its the El Pilar project in Sonora. Highlights includes a drill intersection of 0.66 g/t Au over a length of 35.1m in hole JES-21-43 drilled at the Main Zone. This drill intercept includes 1.7 g/t Au over 13.7m, including 6.8 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag over 3.1m. Tocvan is currently completing 3,500m of RC drilling in 20 holes comprising its Phase II program at Pilar. Thirteen RC holes are still pending of assay results.
  • Tarachi Gold Corp., started a second drilling program on its San Javier mining concession at La Colorada gold bearing breccia pipe. The plan is to drill four holes down-dip of the breccia pipe to test the continuity of the positive results encountered from the 2020 drill program performed at the property, which returned high grade intersections.
  • Mammoth Resources Corp., reported results from an additional 1.7km of 3D geophysical modeling conducted at its Tenoriba project in Chihuahua. “This additional 3D modelling shows similar strong correlation between IP/Mag  geophysical features and anomalous surface gold-in-soil, chips and channel samples together with numerous gold intervals in diamond drilling and extends these coincident features over this additional 1.7Km of a total of 4km of IP/Mag coverage over a larger 6km east-west trend of surface gold-silver mineralization at Tenoriba”.
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., provided an update on the activities developed at its Tepic project in Nayarit. The company has already drilled over 80% of the 2,000m and is expected to be completed soon. This is part of the 20 RC holes panned for its phase 1 drilling program. RC drill results will be released once assaying is completed. Sierra Madre is preparing new drill permits to conduct a Phase 2 drill program for additional 100-200 holes. The company also has commenced a 2,700m Phase 1 trenching program for the central project area. It will help to provide information to consider designing the Phase 2 drill program. The company also announced that, mapping and sampling continue in the northern and eastern project areas with an emphasis on prospecting arroyos and creek beds for signs of mineralization.

ON MINING

  • No relevant news.

ON FINANCING

  • Azucar Minerals Ltd., granted stock options to certain directors and officers of the company to purchase an aggregate of 413K common shares at an exercise price of $0.13 per share which expire on June 14, 2023 (El Cobre project, Veracruz).
  • Advance Gold Corp., closed a private placement financing for gross proceeds of $200K. The company plans to use the proceeds to advance their lithium-potassium boron prospective salars in central Mexico and for general corporate purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Almaden Minerals Ltd., completed a surface induced polarization geophysical (IP) program at its Ixtaca project in Puebla. The IP results are being processed and combined with geological, geochemical and geophysical data collected in the past to outline drill targets beneath the Southeast Alteration Zone and at depth beneath the Ixtaca deposit.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., released results from eight drill holes collared at the Casados deposit at its Los Ricos North project in Jalisco. The most significant drill intersection was encountered in hole LRGCS-21-043 with 0.12 g/t Au and 270 g/t Ag (3.72 g/t AuEq or 279 g/t AgEq) over 0.9m, plus 0.46 g/t Au and 135 g/t Ag (2.25 g/t AuEq or 169 g/t AgEq) over 0.46m, plus 0.43 g/t Au and 132 g/t Ag (2.19 g/t AuEq or 164 g/t AgEq) over 33.6m, including 0.88 g/t Au and 270 g/t Ag (4.48 g/t AuEq or 336 g/t AgEq) over 15.3m, including 1.78 g/t Au and 539 g/t Ag (8.97 g/t AuEq or 673 g/t AgEq) over 6.7m, including 3.77 g/t Au and 930 g/t Ag (16.17 g/t AuEq or 1,213 g/t AgEq) over 1.9m.
  • Silver Viper Minerals Corp., filed on SEDAR a NI 43-101 technical report supporting the maiden mineral resource estimate for its La Virginia project in Sonora. El Rubi Zone contains an indicated resource of 6,179,000 tonnes of 0.78 g/t Au and 35 g/t Ag for 154.3K Oz Au and 6.93M Oz Ag, and inferred resources of 3,255,000 tonnes of 0.9 g/t Au and 36 g/t Ag for 94.1K Oz Au and 3.75M Oz Ag in open pit category. Virginia, El Oriental, Las Huatas and Las Huatas South add and inferred resource of 6,622,000 tonnes of 0.71 g/t Au and 41 g/t Ag for 152.2K Oz Au and 8.74M Oz Ag in open pit category, and 277K tonnes of 1.92 g/t Au and 62 g/t Ag for an additional 14K Oz Au and 451.5K Oz Ag in the underground category. Gold and Silver Equivalents for Indicated resource equal 253,286 Oz AuEq or 17,730,000 Oz AgEq. Gold and Silver Equivalents for Inferred resource equal 445,176 Oz AuEq or 31,162,300 Oz AgEq.
  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., released an updated mineral resource estimate for its media Luna project in Guerrero. Torex reported indicated resources for 20.9M tonnes of 3.21 g/t Au, 32 g/t Ag, and 1.07% Cu (5.27 g/t AuEq) to contain 2.15M Oz Au, 21.3M Oz Ag, and 492M Lb Cu (3.54M Oz AuEq), and inferred resources for 18.9M tonnes of 2.11 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag, and 1.04% Cu (4.08 g/t AuEq) to contain 1.28M Oz Au, 17.1M Oz Ag, and 431M Lb Cu (2.48M Oz AuEq).
  • Zacatecas Silver Corp., announced positive preliminary metallurgical test results from its Zacatecas Silver property, for both bulk flotation and sequential flotation recovery options,  with the bulk floatation flow-path producing a single gold, silver, lead and zinc rougher concentrate (15 minutes of floatation and 23% mass pull) with 697 g/t silver, 0.97 g/t gold, 1.67% zinc and 0.58% lead and recovering 96.2 % of the silver, 93.6% of the gold, 96.5% of the zinc and 92.1 % of the lead.
  • Excellon Resources Inc., filed on SEDAR an independent NI 43-101 technical report. This technical report documents a mineral resource statement for the Platosa Mine in Durango. The company reported measured + indicated resources for 317K tonnes of 485 g/t Ag, 5.3% Pb, and 5.5% Zn to contain 4.9M Oz Ag, 36.79M Lb Pb, and 38.78M Lb Zn, and inferred resources for 42K tonnes of 749 g/t Ag, 4.3% Pb, and 5.4% Zn to contain 1M Oz Ag, 4M Lb Pb, and 5M Lb Zn.
  • Ridgestone Mining Inc., announced that it filed on SEDAR a NI 43-101 technical report to support the maiden mineral resource estimate for its Guadalupe y Calvo project in Chihuahua. Ridgestone reported indicated resources for 6,427,444 tonnes of 50 g/t Ag and 1.05 g/t Au (1.72 g/t AuEq) to contain 10.43M Oz Ag and 217K Oz Au (356K Oz AuEq), and inferred resources for 3,074,146 tonnes of 94 g/t Ag and 3.4 g/t Au (4.65 g/t AuEq) to contain 9.3M Oz Ag and 335.6K Oz Au (460K Oz AuEq).

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • SilverCrest Metals Inc., presented results of its annual general meeting of shareholders held in Vancouver, BC, Canada (Las Chispas project, Sonora). 

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Industrias Peñoles S.A.B. de C.V., community center received population from 40 to 49 years and pregnant women of more than nine weeks of gestation for anticovid vaccine in Torreón. The inoculation is carried out by personnel of the General Hospital of the Zone from the Mexican Social Security Institute  # 18 (IMSS) as well as nurses from said mining company.
  • Industrias Peñoles S.A.B. de C.V., and Fresnillo plc announced that they are training young Mexicans in seven states. Both companies recognize that education plays an important role in people’s lives, because it provides them with new tools that contribute to improve their quality of life. In this sense, they teach specialized courses for girls, children and young people in various areas such as science, technology, engineering, human development, health, entrepreneurship and children’s literacy, among others.

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, a quartz vein-bx in a low sulphidation epithermal system in a prospect in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of June, 2021.

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Quartz Blade Texture

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 22nd week of the year (May 31st to June 06th, 2021), at least 24 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico and 1 news published by the media, with six disclosing deals and corporate issues, six announcing financial rounds, five informing on exploration results, four reporting on resources and developments, three discussing social issues, and one communicating production and financial results.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, No relevant news.  ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Benjamin Hill Mining released additional sampling results from its Benjamin Hill property, Silver Spruce and its JV partner Colibri commenced the phase 1 exploration drilling at its Mezquite project, and Heliostar presented results from its mapping and sampling program at its Oso Negro project. In Zacatecas, Zacatecas Silver completed the geological mapping and sampling program of the San Manuel Vein System. ON MINING, Santacruz reported Q1, 2021 production and financial results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi States respectively. ON FINANCING, Alamos Gold declared quarterly dividend of USD $0.025 per common share (Mulatos mine, Sonora). Chesapeake reported that it granted 73,500 incentive stock options at an exercise price of $4.37 per share (Metates project, Durango). Colibri announced that its previously announced private placement has been oversubscribed for an additional 399,139 units at $.10 per unit (El Pilar project, Sonora). Silver Viper closed the first tranche of a $6M private placement for gross proceeds of $4.57M (La Virginia project, Sonora).  VanGold signed a definitive agreement to obtain a non-dilutive USD $7.5M in the form of a silver and gold loan (El Cubo mine, Guanajuato). Vizsla closed a bought deal financing offering for gross proceeds of CAD $69M (Panuco project, Sinaloa). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Barksdale outlined a 5,000m drilling program at its San Javier project in Sonora. GoGold released results from six holes collared at its Los Ricos North project in Jalisco. Oroco presented results from the 3D IP survey conducted at its Santo Tomas project in Sinaloa. Sonoro completed the nine final RC holes at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora and moves towards an updated technical report and new PEA. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Capstone announced the resignation of a member of its Board of Directors (Cozamine mine, Zacatecas). VanGold announced that it will change its name to Guanajuato Silver Company, Ltd. (El Cubo mine, Guanajuato). Gatos Silver announced the appointment of its President and CEO, effective June 1, 2021 (Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua). Great Panther appointed its new CFO and COO (Topia mine, Durango). First Majestic released results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (San Dimas property, Durango).  Fortuna Silver provided an update of the legal dispute against the Mexican Geological Survey (SGM) if the royalty in one of its claims at San Jose mine in Oaxaca is not paid.  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Minera Alamos released its 2020 Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) Report (Mulatos mine, Sonora).  Grupo México delivered seed capital for productive and social projects in the community of Sombrerete, Zacatecas. Newmont Corporation launched its 2020 Annual Sustainability Report.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • No relevant news.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Benjamin Hill Mining Corp., released additional assays from 45 samples collected at the new La Salada East Area within its Benjamin Hill property in Sonora. Chip samples returned multiple results ranging from 1 g/t Au to 3.8 g/t Au with peaks of 10 g/t Au and 10.1 g/t Au. Gold values are associated with quartz veining and quartz breccias often with chalcopyrite, galena and hematite, limonite and “boxwork” pyrite. These results extend the known gold mineralization previously reported. The company also announced that it is finalizing drill program planning to test the most prospective targets generated to date and expects to receive drill permits in early June.
  • Silver Spruce Resources Inc., and its JV partner Colibri Resource Corporation commenced the 2,000m phase 1 exploration RC drilling at its Mezquite project in Sonora. Six holes are planned to drill test an area of 400m by 600m with elevated values to 3.41 g/t Au and 387 g/t Ag.
  • Heliostar Metals Limited presented results from its mapping and sampling program at its Oso Negro project in Sonora. High grade channel samples defined drill targets at the Prospecto Vein zone including 5.14 g/t Au, 953 g/t Ag, 1% Pb, and 1.9% Zn (1,428 g/t AgEq) over 1.2m; 2.55 g/t Au, 346 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, and 1.2% Zn (588 g/t AgEq) over 1.8m; and 3.29 g/t Au, 89 g/t Ag, 0.2% Pb, and 0.6% Zn (362 g/t AgEq) over 2.4m. This target has a length of 360m of strike, and has a weighted average grade of 420 g/t AgEq over and average width of 1.3m. Heliostar also announced the stacking of a new claim, Angel de Plata 2, increasing its land position to 120 square kilometers. Two new vein corridors have been discovered on the new claim with mine dump samples from historic workings up to 1,810 g/t AgEq.
  • Zacatecas Silver Corp., completed the first pass of its geological mapping and sampling program on the San Manuel Vein System. The company defined eight sets of oxidized, silver-base metal mineralized veins for over at least 3 km in length, with a dilation zone that is at least 600m wide. This extensional zone represents robust drill targets. The company has already commenced an environmental study at San Gill-San Manuel, concurrent with planning of first phase drilling at this target, which should be completed within 4 weeks.

ON MINING

  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., Santacruz reported Q1, 2021 production and financial results from their Zimapan and Rosario mines in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi states respectively.  At Zimapan, Hidalgo, the company processed 156, 433 tonnes to produce 646K Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of USD $19.91 and USD $27.19 per Oz AgEq respectively. At Rosario, San Luis Potosi, Santacruz processed 19,806 tonnes to produce 60.9K Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of USD $27.19 and USD $52.57 respectively. The company reported consolidated revenues of USD $11.1M, gross profit of USD $2.2M, EBITDA of USD $983K, and cash and marketable securities of USD $6.8M (Zimapan and Rosario mines in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi respectively).

ON FINANCING

  • Alamos Gold Inc., declared quarterly dividend of USD $0.025 per common share. The company also implemented a dividend reinvestment plan. It gives the shareholders the option of increasing their investment by electing to receive common shares instead of cash dividend at a 3% discount to the prevailing market price (Mulatos mine, Sonora).
  • Chesapeake Gold Corp., reported that it granted 73,500 incentive stock options at an exercise price of $4.37 per share. The Options will vest and be exercisable on the basis of 25% annually, commencing May 31, 2022, the first anniversary of the date of the grant. (Metates project, Durango).
  • Colibri Resource Corporation announced that its previously announced private placement of 23,482,000 units has been oversubscribed for an additional 399,139 units at $.10 per unit with each unit consisting of one common share and one common share purchase warrant exercisable at $0.15 for one common share for a period of twenty-four months from the date of issue. (El Pilar project, Sonora).
  • Silver Viper Minerals Corp., closed the first tranche of a $6M private placement for gross proceeds of $4.57M (La Virginia project, Sonora).  The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.
  • VanGold Mining Corp., signed a definitive agreement to obtain a non-dilutive USD $7.5M in the form of a silver and gold loan. The company estimates that the amount of gold and silver required to repay this loan facility will represent approximately 25% of the projected gold and silver to be produced by VanGold from its operations at the El Cubo mill in Guanajuato during the 12-month repayment period of the loan.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., closed a bought deal financing offering for gross proceeds of CAD $69M. The net proceeds of the Public Offering will be used to advance the exploration and development of the Company’s Panuco project, to make option payments and pursue potential future acquisitions, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Barksdale Resources Corp., outlined a 5,000m drilling program at its San Javier project in Sonora. The plan is to start drilling in July 2021 at the Cerro Verde area to confirm near surface copper oxide and gold mineralization up to 200m and test structures believed to control higher grade mineralization.  Cerro Verde has historic indicated + inferred resources for 86M tonnes of 0.33% Cu for a total of 630M Lb Cu. The company also plans to run metallurgical tests to better understand the potential processing routes for both copper and gold mineralization.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., released results from six holes collared at its Los Ricos North project in Jalisco. The most significant results was encountered in hole LRGF-21-041 with 0.38 g/t Au and 84 g/t Ag (1.5 g/t AuEq or 113 g/t AgEq) over 1.7m, plus 0.31 g/t Au and 82 g/t Ag (1.41 g/t AuEq or 105 g/t AgEq) over 56.1m, including 3.57 g/t Au and 975 g/t Ag (16.57 g/t AuEq or 1,243 g/t AgEq) over 1.3m, plus 0.19 g/ Au and 90 g/t Ag (1.39 g/t AuEq or 104 g/t AgEq) over 2.3m.
  • Oroco Resource Corporation presented results from the 3D IP survey conducted at its Santo Tomas project in Sinaloa. The 3D IP results show a good correlation of chargeability and resistivity features with known mineralization and alteration zones in the area of historical drilling and resource delineation. “Final survey data displays a very extensive distribution of chargeability / resistivity features beyond the confines of the historical work at Santo Tomas”. 
  • Sonoro Gold Corp., completed the nine final RC holes at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora and moves towards an updated technical report and new PEA. The most significant drill intersections were encountered in hole SCR-262 collared at Buena Suerte Area with 0.37 g/t Au and 0.6 g/t Ag (0.38 g/t AuEq) over 21.33m, and ole SCR-264 also collared at Buena Suerte area with 0.29 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag (0.47 g/t AuEq) over 21.34m, including 1.59 g/t Au and 135 g/t Ag (3.52 g/t AuEq) over 1.53, plus 0.76 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag (0.87 g/t AuEq) over 15.24m, including 2.4 g/t Au and 2 g/t Ag (2.43 g/t AuEq) over 1.52m. These results indicated a coalescence of the Buena Suerte and Los Japoneses areas into a single orebody of shallow, oxide gold mineralization. Sonoro expects two independent 43-101 compliant reports to update the resource size and classification and determine whether it is sufficient to support the Company’s proposed heap leach mining operation with a conceptual operation of up to 15,000 tonnes per day.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Capstone Mining Corp., announced the resignation of a member from its Board of Directors (Cozamine mine, Zacatecas).
  • VanGold Mining Corp., announced that it will change its name to Guanajuato Silver Company, Ltd., for which it has reserved the stock symbol GSVR with the TSX Venture Exchange (El Cubo mine, Guanajuato).
  • Gatos Silver Inc., announced the appointment of its President and CEO. He will assume its role, effective June 1, 2021 (Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua).
  • Great Panther Mining Limited, appointed its new CFO and COO, effective June 30, 2021 (Topia mine, Durango).
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., released results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (San Dimas property, Durango). 
  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., provided an update of the legal dispute against the Mexican Geological Survey (SGM) if the royalty in one of its claims at San Jose mine in Oaxaca is not paid. Effective May 27, 2021, the General Direction of Mines (DGM) provided notice to the Company of the termination of the cancellation procedure, as it has determined that the required cause for cancellation of the concession was not established.   As a result, the Company has discontinued the Amparo Proceedings in the Collegiate Court in Mexico. In light of these constructive developments, the Company is now engaged in goodwill discussions with the SGM to reach an agreement to the satisfaction of both parties with respect to the royalty claim.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Alamos Gold Inc., released its 2020 Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) Report. It outlines the company’s progress on its ESG performance in 2020 across its operations, projects and offices, and provides direction on planned initiatives for 2021 (Mulatos mine, Sonora). 
  • Grupo México delivered seed capital for productive and social projects in the community of Sombrerete, Zacatecas, which contribute to promoting development and building a more competitive community. This project that has been carried out since 2009 has approved more than 600 projects. On this occasion, seven new projects were approved whose support is MXP $1M, which is distributed among the projects, according to the scope presented by each one.
  • Newmont Corporation launched its 2020 Annual Sustainability Report. This is part of the suite of reports on the Company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in key areas that include health, safety and security, human rights, the environment, social acceptance, governance, and inclusion and diversity.

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 blade texture in a hot spring and epithermal vein system in a project in Hidalgo, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.