Ankerite vein

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 47^th week of the year (November 18^th to November 24^th 2024), at least 25 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 2 news published by the media, with six communicating production and financial results, six disclosing deals and corporate issues, six announcing financing rounds, five reporting resources and development of their properties, three commenting on Mexican issues, and one informing on exploration results.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) proposed to increase the mining rights in the Federal Income Law initiative released last November 15, 2024. Despite all the contribution that the Mexican mining industry makes to the country’s economy, all analysts were surprised by the blow that is intended to be given to this industry in the proposal for the 2025 Economic Package that was presented last November 15, 2024. Mining will be key to meeting renewable goals in Mexico. Kootenay Silver, Guanajuato Silver, and Silver Storm reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of November, 2024.  ON EXPLORATION, In Chihuahua, Kootenay released results from 4 holes drilled at its Columba project.  ON MINING, Elemental Altusreported consolidated Q3, 2024 operating and financial results (Mercedes mine, Sonora).  Minera Alamos reported Q3, 2024 operating results from its Santana property in Sonora. Golden Minerals announced Q3, 2024 operating and financial results (Velardeña property, Durango). Starcore reported production results for the second fiscal quarter ended Oct 2024 at its San Martin mine in Queretaro. Guanajuato Silver reported Q3, 2024 production results from their Mexican mines located in Guanajuato and Durango states. ON FINANCING, Kingsmen closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $1M (Las Coloradas project, Chihuahua). Quetzal Copper announced a brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $3M (Cristinas project, Chihuahua). Endeavour Silver announced a USD $73M bought deal financing (Pitarrilla project, Durango). Alamos Gold declared quarterly dividends (Mulatos mine, Sonora). Angel Wings announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $1M (La Reyna project, Nayarit). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Minera Alamos provided an update on their Santana and Cerro de Oro properties in Sonora and Zacatecas respectively. Southern Silver initiated a drilling program at its Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango. Mammoth Resources announced the results of an independent study confirming a gold-silver exploration target at its 100% owned Tenoriba property in Chihuahua.  Silver Storm released results from nine holes drilled at the La Estrella and San Rafael Zones in its Parrilla mine, Durango. Guanajuato Silver reported results from its 2024 drilling program being conducted at its Valenciana Mine Complex, Guanajuato. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Talent Infinity signed a conditional and non-binding letter of intent with Advantage Mining for gold-silver claims located in Sonora. Tarachi Gold announced its decision to discontinue a transaction with Prospector Portal due to the expiration of their non-binding letter of intent (Tarachi property, Sonora). Sonoro Gold declared that it has paid the final installment of USD $250K to acquire a 100% interest in the Cerro Caliche group of concessions in Sonora.  Fresnillo plc reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders. Luca Mining announced the hiring of a highly experienced geological team to advance its exploration strategy at the Tahuehueto and Campo Morado sites located in Durango and Guerrero respectively. Sierra Mojada announced a significant breakthrough with the conditional lifting of a five-year blockade at the Sierra Mojada Mining Project in Coahuila. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY,  no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

• The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) proposed to increase the mining rights in the Federal Income Law initiative released last November 15, 2024. SHCP stated that considering that minerals and substances are non-renewable public domain assets, it is proposed to increase the special and extraordinary rights on mining, raising rates from 7.5 to 8.5% and from 0.5 to 1.0%, respectively, as established in articles 268 and 270 of the Federal Law of Rights.  The SHCP also argued that this adjustment responds to the upward trend in international metal prices, ensuring that those who benefit from these resources contribute equitably to the State. Currently, the SHCP charges a special fee of 7.5% on the net profit for the disposal or sale of the extractive activity, as well as an extraordinary fee on mining, corresponding to 0.5% on the income from the disposal of gold, silver and platinum. In addition, an additional mining fee per hectare is applied in concessions without exploration or exploitation. According to data from the Mexican Mining Chamber (CAMIMEX), fiscal contributions from the mining sector experienced a drop of 32.2% in 2023 compared to 2022, registering an amount of MXP $49,445.4M, “as a direct consequence of the closure of operations and the lack of growth in the sector.” In a breakdown, these contributions were as follows: Income Tax (MXP $37,888M), mining rights (MXP $2,876M), and new mining rights (MXP $8,682M).
• Despite all the contribution that the Mexican mining industry makes to the country’s economy, all analysts were surprised by the blow that is intended to be given to this industry in the proposal for the 2025 Economic Package that was presented last November 15, 2024. It is one of the most important industries in Mexico, since it is key to more than 70 productive sectors, and even many of the things we use daily could not be done without the intervention of mining. In Mexico, the mining industry is key to the development of the economy, there are 24 states that have a high vocation for mining, and more than 696 communities dedicated exclusively to that activity, where many legislators, authorities and businessmen from other branches should consider a trip to learn more about how they operate and, above all, the high degree of technology they use today, which makes them one of the industries with the greatest investments in both human capital and technology to make facilities safer.  The Economic Package proposes an increase from 7.5% to 8.5% of the special right and from 0.5% to 1% the extraordinary right to mining activity, which threatens the competitiveness of an industry. Key that in recent years has already faced an adverse environment with the reforms to the Mining Law, the suspension of concessions and the lack of permits, and it seems that no one has realized the negative effects that would have on everyone.
• Mining will be key to meeting renewable goals in Mexico. Demand for critical minerals to produce electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines will quadruple by 2030. The objectives of companies operating in the country and the Mexican government to transition to greater consumption of renewable energies such as solar or wind will be impossible to meet if mining investment, responsible for producing critical minerals such as copper, lithium, silver, gold, nickel, manganese, cobalt, graphite, copper, zinc and rare earths necessary to manufacture electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines is not encouraged. In this sense, it is estimated that until 2030, the demand for critical minerals for clean energy technologies can grow up to four times. For some minerals, the growth can be much greater: the energy sector’s demand for lithium will grow more than 10 times by 2050 according to estimates by the Mexican Mining Chamber (CAMIMEX). With all of the above, the general director of CAMIMEX stated it is necessary for the authorities to carefully analyze the proposal that seeks to prohibit open pit mining, since this would impact not only the production of essential metals for the energy transition, but also would impact the social well-being of one million people in 690 communities that directly depend on mining activity. The Mexican mining industry set the goal of reducing its environmental footprint on a large scale while increasing its productivity, especially of strategic minerals for the energy transition, which is why by 2030 they will seek to achieve 46 percent of the country’s total energy consumption.
• Kootenay Silver Inc., Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., and Silver Storm Mining Ltd., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of November, 2024. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

• Kootenay Silver Inc., released results from 4 holes drilled at its Columba project, in Chihuahua. Drilling highlights (true widths reported) include holes CDH-24-174 with 104 g/t Ag, 0% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 4.90m, plus 99 g/t Ag, 0% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 4.20m, including 533 g/t Ag, 0% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 0.3m, plus 233 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over 27.60m, including 1,100 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over 2.68m, including 3,090 g/t Ag, 0.9% Pb and 0.2% Zn over 0.74m; hole CDH-24-175 with 270 g/t Ag, 0.2% Pb, and 3.4% Zn over 3.42m; and hole CDH-24-017 with 71 g/t Ag, 0% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 11.11m, including 146 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.2% Zn over 5.4m, including 212 g/t Ag, 0.2% Pb, and 0.3% Zn over 2.49m, plus 159 g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb, and 0.4% Zn over 8.47m, including 513 g/t Ag, 0.6% Pb, and 1.7% Zn 0ver 0.82m. These results comprise tests from three areas at Columba: I-Vein, D-Vein and B-Vein Corridor which is the extension of the historically mined F-Vein. “The company is focused on testing extensions and gaps within the data set in advance of the preparation of a mineral resource estimate”.

ON MINING

• Elemental Altus Royalties Corp., reported consolidated Q3, 2024 operating and financial results, and provided its guidance range for adjusted revenue and reduced its guidance range for Oz AuEq. The company recorded quarterly cash flow and EBITDA, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 (Mercedes mine, Sonora).
• Minera Alamos Inc., reported Q3, 2024 operating results. Mining and stacking during this period from the new Nicho Main Zone pit within its Santana property in Sonora reached 3,800 Oz Au with an average grade of 0.6 g/t Au.
• Golden Minerals Company announced Q3, 2024 operating and financial results (all figures are in US dollars). The company recorded no revenue related to gold and silver in doré, but recorded revenue of $0.1M from the sale of metals at the Velardeña Properties during the third quarter 2024. This revenue relates to concentrate shipments that were completed earlier in 2024 but were finalized during the third quarter 2024. In the third quarter 2023, the Company recorded $2.5M of revenue which was related to the sale of metals at its Rodeo mine in Durango.
• Starcore International Mines Ltd., reported production results for the second fiscal quarter ended Oct 2024 at its San Martin mine in Queretaro. It milled 48,248 tonnes of 1.10 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 80.25% and 49.16% respectively to produce 1,466 Oz AuEq.
• Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., reported Q3, 2024 production results from their Mexican mines located in Guanajuato and Durango states (all dollar amounts are in US dollars). At El Cubo, Guanajuato, the company milled 69,897 tonnes to produce 263.4K Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of $18.33 and 21.79 per Oz AgEq respectively. At Valenciana Mine Complex, Guanajuato, it milled 40,440 tonnes to produce 146.4K Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of $23.19 and 26.21 per Oz AgEq respectively. At San Ignacio, Guanajuato, the company milled 20,427 tonnes to produce 89.1K Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of $22.51 and 26.25 per Oz AgEq respectively. At Topia, Durango, it milled 13,772 tonnes to produce 280.9K Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of $15.73 and 16.33 respectively. Guanajuato Silver reported Consolidated Results of 144,537 tonnes milled to produce 413.6K Oz Ag, 3,617 Oz Au, 806.9K Lb Pb, and 926K Lb Zn (779.8K Oz AgEq) at cash and AISC of 18.787 and $23.88 per Oz AgEq respectively. The company also reported revenue of $18.31M, mine operating cash flow before taxes of $3.3M, EBITDA of ($662.8K), adjusted EBITDA of $892.3K, and cash and cash equivalents of $1.6M as of September 30, 2024.

ON FINANCING

• Kingsmen Resources Ltd., closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $1M by issuing 400K units at a price of $0.25 per unit.  Gross proceeds will be used to further advance its Las Coloradas Silver/Gold project in Chihuahua and for working capital.
• Quetzal Copper Corp., announced a brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $3M from the sale of up to 6,666,666 units of the company at a price of $0.15 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $M from the sale of units; and up to 10,526,315 common shares of the Company (FT Shares), and together with the units, at a price of $0.19 per FT Share for gross proceeds of up to $2M from the sale of FT Shares. Each FT Share will be issued as a “flow-through share” within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada). Gross proceeds will be used for exploration and development activities and general corporate purposes.  The gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares will be used by the company to incur eligible “Canadian exploration expenses” (Cristinas project, Chihuahua).
• Torex Gold Resources Inc., received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange for a normal course issuer bid (NCIB), allowing the company to purchase up to 7,116,777 of its common shares, which is about 10% of its public float as of November 13, 2024. This buyback program will run from November 21, 2024, to November 20, 2025. The company plans to fund these purchases using its available working capital, and all shares bought back will be cancelled. Torex aims to use this strategy to return capital to shareholders while maintaining flexibility in its capital allocation. Torex’s strategic objectives include optimizing the Morelos Property, achieving growth in reserves and production, achieving full production at Media Luna, retains and attracts best industry talent, and enhancing ESG practices.
• Endeavour Silver Corp., announced a USD $73M bought deal financing consisting of 15,825,000 common shares of the company at a price of USD $4.60 per common share. Net proceeds will be used for general working capital and the advancement of the Pitarrilla project in Durango.
• Alamos Gold Inc., declared quarterly dividends of USD $0.025 per common share. The Company has paid dividends for 15 consecutive years including returning USD $41M to shareholders thus far in 2024 (Mulatos mine, Sonora).
• Angel Wings Metals Inc., announced a non-brokered private placement of up to 20,000,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $1M. Net proceeds will be used for diamond drilling at its La Reyna project, Nayarit.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

• Minera Alamos Inc., provided an update on their Santana and Cerro de Oro properties in Sonora and Zacatecas respectively. At Santana property, Sonora, the company is completing final preparations for the Phase 2 leach pad expansion to increase the area available for site leaching operations by 40%. The larger Phase 3 pad expansion is awaiting permit amendment approval that will allow the company to execute on the larger future planned expansion of activities at Santana. At Cerro de Oro property, Zacatecas, the company continues with the engineering work in advance of final permits receipt.
• Southern Silver Exploration Corp., initiated a drilling program at its Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango. The program plans to conduct up to 6,000m of core drilling to explore extensions of high-grade mineralization near existing deposits. Previous drilling efforts have identified significant mineral resources, with indicated resources of 13.3M tonnes averaging 102 g/t Ag, 0.07 g/t Au, 0.17% Cu, 1.3% Pb, and 3.1% Zn totalling 43.4M Oz Ag, 32K Oz Au, 49M Lb Cu, 374M Lb Pb, and 921M Lb Zn; and inferred resources of 23.4M tonnes averaging 111 g/t Ag, 0.14 g/t Au, 0.21% Cu, 1.1% Pb, and 2.1% Zn totalling 83.4M Oz Ag, 104K Oz Au, 111M Lb Cu, 582M Lb Pb, and 1,106M Lb Zn. The current drilling aims to demonstrate the potential for continued resource growth and improve the project’s economic viability. It will focus on the South Skarn Deposit and target down-dip extensions of higher-grade mineralized areas, as well as resource gaps in the North Felsite deposit. Additionally, baseline data collection, including hydrology, geotechnical, archaeological, and land surveys, is underway to support the project’s advancement. The company is also exploring various opportunities identified after a recent Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) conducted in July 2024.
• Mammoth Resources Corp., announced the results of an independent study confirming a gold-silver exploration target at its 100% owned Tenoriba property in Chihuahua, estimating over 1M Oz AuEq. The exploration target was divided into two defined areas: a “High Confidence” area based on drill hole proximity and a broader “Extended” area inferred from surface features favorable for mineralization. The study highlights a significant mineralization potential in the shallow, near-surface mixed oxidized-sulfide/transition zone. The study utilized thousands of gold-silver sample analyses from 55 diamond drill holes and surface geomorphology interpretations to define the target areas, which include Carneritos, Masuparia, and Moreno.
• Silver Storm Mining Ltd., released results from nine holes drilled at the La Estrella and San Rafael Zones in its Parrilla mine, Durango. Drilling highlights include holes Q-24-039 with 640 g/t Ag, 0.12 g/t Au, 2.4% Pb, 2% Zn, and 0.02% Cu (768 g/t AgEq) over 7.26m, including 1,010 g/t Ag, 0.28 g/t Au, 5.6% Pb, 13.4 % Zn, and 0.09% Cu (1,546 g/t AgEq) over 0.49m, plus 2,440 g/t Ag, 0.38 g/t Au, 1.5% Pb, 1.5% Zn, and 0.03% Cu (2,550 g/t AgEq) over 0.50m, plus 944 g/t Ag, 0.09 g/t Au, 2,13% Pb, 0.94% Zn, and 0.02% Cu (1,034 g/t AgEq) over 0.94m; hole Q-24-031 with 2,370 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 4.1% Pb, 0.4% Zn, and 0.11% Cu (2,495 g/t AgEq) over 0.40m, plus 350 g/t Ag, 0.03 g/t Au, 0.7% Pb, 0.4% Zn, and 0.0% Cu (382 g/t AgEq) over 3.5m, including 598 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 1.1% Pb, 0.3% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (640 g/t AgEq) over 1.56m; hole Q-24-035 with 323 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 1% Pb, 0.3% Zn, and 0.0% Cu (361 g/t AgEq) over 5m, including 1,260 g/t Ag, 0.12 g/t Au, 1.3% Pb, 0.3% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (1,313 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m, plus 358 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 5.1% Pb, 0.05% Zn, and 0.0% Cu (502 g/t AgEq9 over 0.5m, plus 376 g/t Ag, 0.02 g/t Au, 0.6% Pb, 1% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (422 g/t AgEq) over 4.36m, plus 909 g/t Ag, 0.09 g/t Au, 1.6% Pb, 2.2% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (1,019 g/t AgEq) over 0.9m; hole Q-24-036 with 282 g/t Ag, 0.01 g/t Au, 1% Pb, 0.9% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (333 g/t AgEq) over 5.75m, including 1,410 g/t Ag, 0.02 g/t Au, 5.1% Pb, 5.2% Zn, and 0.04% Cu (1,690 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m, plus 154 g/t Ag, 0.03 g/t Au, 0.5% Pb, 0.6% Zn, and 0.01% Cu (186 g/t AgEq9 over 0.5m; and hole Q-24-038 with 374 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 2.1% Pb, 1.7% Zn, and 0.02% Cu (482 g/t AgEq) over 8.19m, including 876 g/t Ag, 0.12 g/t Au, 7.8% Pb, 5.6% Zn, and 0.05% Cu (1,248 g/t AgEq) over 1.12m, plus 130 g/t Ag, 0.02 g/t Au, 0.2% Pb, 0.1% Zn, and 0.02% Cu (141 g/t AgEq) over 0.70m. These results were not modelled or included in the NI-43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate published on August 2023.
• Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., reported results from its 2024 drilling program being conducted at Cata and Maravillas mines in its Valenciana Mine Complex, Guanajuato. Drilling highlights (true width reported) at Cata mine include holes UGC24-001 with 1.32 g/t Au and 306 g/t Ag (418 g/t AgEq) over 0.82m, plus 3.72 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag (323 g/t AgEq) over 0.45m; hole UGC24-005 with 2.87 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag (247 g/t AgEq) over 0.22m; and hole UGC24-007 with 4.82 g/t Au and 1,114 g/t Ag (1,523 g/t AgEq) over 0.69m, plus 4.75 g/t Au and 1,311 g/t Ag (1,715 g/t AgEq) over 0.49m, plus 3.84 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag (338 g/t AgEq) over 0.64m. Drilling highlights (true width reported) at Maravillas mine include holes UGM24-001 with 0.31 g/t Au and 107 g/t Ag (133 g/T AgEq) over 0.50m, plus 1.11 g/t Au and 398 g/t Ag (492 g/t AgEq9 over 3.19m, including 6.63 g/t Au and 2,239 g/t Ag (2,803 g/t AgEq) over 0.42m, including 0.4 g/t Au and 196 g/t Ag (230 g/t AgEq) over 0.66m, including 0.82 g/t Au and 344 g/t Ag (414 g/t AgEq) over 0.38m.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

• Talent Infinity Resource Developments Inc., signed a conditional and non-binding letter of intent with Advantage Mining Group Ltd., for gold-silver claims located in Sonora that Advantage represents that they have the rights to acquire. The claims are located within the “prominent northwest-trending Sonora Gold Belt and parallel to the well-known, precious metals-rich Mojave-Sonora Megashear”.
• Tarachi Gold Corp. announced its decision to discontinue a transaction with Prospector Portal Inc. due to the expiration of their non-binding letter of intent in which Tarachi would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Prospector in a transaction that would transform Tarachi into an artificial intelligence-focused mining services company. The company will refocus on precious metals exploration, leveraging its $3M cash reserve to pursue new opportunities in the sector (Tarachi property, Sonora).
• Sonoro Gold Corp., declared that it has paid the final installment of USD $250K to acquire a 100% interest in the Cerro Caliche group of concessions in Sonora.  The option agreement represents 67% of the total surface area of the Cerro Caliche Gold Project, for total consideration of USD $2.98M. Under the terms of the assignment agreement, the company also executed a royalty agreement, entitling the vendor to a 2% net smelter returns royalty (NSR) from the proceeds of the sale of minerals from the concessions. The company may purchase the NSR for USD $1M for each one percent of the royalty after year four of production.
• Fresnillo plc reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders.
• Luca Mining Corp., announced the hiring of a highly experienced geological team to advance its exploration strategy at the Tahuehueto and Campo Morado sites located in Durango and Guerrero respectively. The primary goals of this strategy include identifying additional high-grade mineralization to enhance cash flow, leveraging a vast historical geosciences database for resource expansion, and exploring the district-scale potential in both sites by targeting high-impact exploration zones further from the mine sites.
• Sierra Mojada Resources Inc., announced a significant breakthrough with the conditional lifting of a five-year blockade at the Silver-Zinc Sierra Mojada Mining Project in Coahuila, following unanimous approval from the local cooperative Cooperativa de Explotacion Minera Mlneros Norteños. The company plans to propose a “Merger of Equals” with project owners to restore financial health, secure future financing, and benefit all stakeholders. The project has identified approximately 200,000 tonnes of high-grade silver/zinc oxides, ready to be gravimetrically concentrated, which are expected to generate cash and ensure financial independence. This resolution marks a transformative opportunity for sustainable growth in the region.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• No relevant news.

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On the picture above, ankerite vein related to an orogenic gold deposit in a project in Sonora, Mexico. Photo taken by Miguel A Heredia.