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

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REDOX front in a Red-Bed Copper prospect

By Miguel A Heredia During the 28th week of the year (July 10th to July 16th, 2023), at least 32 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 1 news published by the media with ten communicating production and financial results, six disclosing deals and corporate issues, five informing on exploration results, five reporting resources and development of their properties, three announcing financing issues, three commenting on Mexican issues, and one discussing social issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Almadex dropped several of its legacy projects in Mexico (Yago and Las Lajas projects in Nayarit and San Luis Potosi States respectively). Galore announced that due to some recent changes in the mining laws enacted by the Mexican Government, Galore employed the services of a Law firm in Mexico to file an Amparo (injunction). In 2022, the production of zinc, one of the six main metals that Mexico produces for its internal use and for export, was reduced because the federal authorities decided to reduce the operations of the mines. Torex Gold, Sierra Madre, Vizsla, and Prime Mining reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the second week of July, 2023. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Canuc acquired an additional 96.5051 hectares claim contiguous with the company´s existing claims at its San Javier project, and Colibri submitted an application for additional drilling at its Evelyn project. In Coahuila, Monumental Minerals commenced a drilling program at its Jemi Rare Earth Element project. In Sinaloa, Prismo provided an update of the current drilling program at its Palos Verdes project. In Nayarit, Sierra Madre presented results from four additional holes drilled at its la Tigra project. ON MINING, Aura Minerals, Endeavour, Fortuna Silver, GoGold, and Orla reported Q2, 2023 production results from their Mexican mine operations.  Capstone and Argonaut commented that they will release their Q2, 2023 production results on August 2 and August 11 respectively. Guanajuato Silver commenced a high-grade pillars exploitation program at its la Valenciana Mine Complex in Guanajuato. Gold Resource reported Q2 and H1, 2023 production results from Don David Gold Mine in Oaxaca. Guanajuato Silver announced Q2, 2023 consolidated production results from their Mexican mine operations. ON FINANCING, GR Silver announced a non-brokered private placement to raise total gross proceeds of up to $1M (Plomosas project, Sinaloa). Bear Creek communicated that it plans to conduct a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $8.2M (Mercedes Mine, Sonora). Heliostar closed its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of approximately $7M (Ana Paula project, Guerrero). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, GoGold reported on the proposed SART Zn Circuit for its Parral Tailings Project in Chihuahua. Prime Mining released results from 9 holes drilled at its Los Reyes property in Sinaloa. Sonoro identified oxide mineralized target for resource expansion at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora. Vizsla announced results from 20 expansion drill holes targeting the Copala Resource Area at its Panuco project in Sinaloa. Torex presented assay results from its ongoing drilling program at its El Limon-Guajes underground mine in Guerrero.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Almaden granted stock options to directors, officers, consultants and employees of the Company (Ixtaca project, Puebla). Azucar granted stock options to directors, officers, employees, and consultants of the Company (El Cobre, Veracruz). GR Silver announced Board and Management changes (Plomosas project, Sinaloa). Monumental Minerals reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Jemi Rare Earth Element project, Coahuila). Colibri reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Pilar project, Sonora). Regency Silver announced that it has engaged Kin Communications to assist with its investor relations activities (Dios Padre project, Sonora). (ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Industrias Peñoles confirmed that it promotes a culture of environmental care in communities.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • Almadex Minerals Ltd., dropped several of its legacy projects in Mexico (Yago and Las Lajas projects in Nayarit and San Luis Potosi States respectively), “where exploration progress is challenged by numerous impediments to timely progress”.  
  • Galore Resources Inc., announced that due to some recent changes in the mining laws, enacted by the Mexican Government, Galore employed the services of a Law firm in Mexico to file an Amparo (injunction). “An Amparo is a constitutional remedy that protects individuals and entities against violations of their constitutional rights, in which this Amparo is the only legal remedy to challenge the constitutionality of the new mining laws.  In the case of the Mining Concessionaires, it is important to exercise this right and obtain a resolution to make sure the authority will respect rights of previous concessions”.
  • In 2022, the production of zinc, one of the six main metals that Mexico produces for its internal use and for export, was reduced because the federal authorities decided to reduce the operations of the mines. According to the Mexican Mining Chamber (CAMIMEX), the 2022 national mining production registered 744,324 tons, showing a decrease because in Zacatecas Newmont’s Peñasquito project reduced its tonnage to 34,473, while Fresnillo plc’s El Saucito project also limited its production to 9,054 tons less. In addition, the mines La Platosa owned by Excellon Resources, La Cienega owned by Fresnillo plc and Velardeña owned by Industrias Peñoles decreased their volumes by 40.6%, 15.5% and 4.6%, respectively. Chihuahua is another state whose production decreased with Grupo Mexico’s Santa Barbara project, which registered 20,696 tons, 11.5% lower than the previous year; and San Francisco del Oro from Minera Frisco with 17,923 tons, 4.3% less compared to 2021. Other states in which their mines decreased their production were: San Luis Potosí, with Charcas from Grupo Mexico, with an annual decrease of 16.4%; in Aguascalientes, Asientos of Minera Frisco, with 11.3%; in the State of Mexico, Tizapa with 5.9%, and in Guerrero with Capela, with 5.4%, both from Industrias Peñoles. Also, located in Guerrero, Luca Mining’s Campo Morado reduced its production by 23.2%. Zacatecas continued to be the most important, since its participation represented 48.4% of the national total and meant an increase of 1% compared to 2021. Durango was in second place in zinc mining production, but reduced its production by 2.2% in 2022 compared to 2021, due to lower production in Santiago Papasquiaro of 16.3%. While Chihuahua was positioned in third place, where production remained unchanged compared to 2021; the largest reduction in state tonnage was due to the municipality of San Francisco del Oro. “By company, Newmont was the largest national zinc producer in 2022, with a 23% share. The four most important companies of national origin that participate in the extraction of this metal are: Industrias Peñoles, Fresnillo plc, Grupo Mexico and Minera Frisco, which represented 50% of the total last year”, the document reiterates. CAMIMEX assured that there are projects that will boost the growth of zinc production in Mexico in the next five years and that, if they are taken advantage of, they could place Mexico among the top five producers worldwide. The foregoing would also mean a recovery of the industry after the impact of the pandemic and the impact on mineral prices. Among the main projects with this metal content in Mexico, Grupo Mexico’s Buenavista Zinc in Sonora stands out, as well as the San Nicolas development of Agnico Eagle-Teck in Zacatecas.

 

  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., Vizsla Silver Corp., and Prime Mining Corp., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the second week of July, 2023. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION  

  • Canuc Resources Corporation acquired an additional 96.5051 hectares claim contiguous with the company´s existing claims at its San Javier project in Sonora. This claim covers prospective ground and the acquisition of this additional claim brings the company´s total contiguous claim position to 1,052.9 hectares comprised in 28 claims.
  • Colibri Resource Corporation submitted an application to the Mexican environmental agency (SEMARNAT) to drill up to 2,000 additional meters of RC in the Main Zone and West El Sahuaro at its Evelyn project in Sonora. The plan is to drill 1,200m at the Main Zone and 800m at the West Sahuaro Zone.
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., commenced a drilling program at its Jemi Rare Earth Element (REE) project in Coahuila. The program begun on the first drill target on the Veladora North prospect with the goal of testing areas with high concentrations of REE-mineralized dykes and sills at the surface. Monumental is planning to test a total of 6 drill targets to approximately 300 m each during this maiden campaign.
  • Prismo Metals Inc., provided an update of the current drilling program at its Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa. The Company has completed 1,239m of drilling in seven holes, with the 8th hole in progress. The company expects to release assay results from the first seven holes during the week of July 17.
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., presented results from four additional holes drilled at its la Tigra project in Nayarit. Drilling highlights include hole LTDH005 with 2.49 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag (2.60 g/t AuEq) over 20m, including 4.26 g/t Au and 14 g/t Ag (4.45 g/t AuEq) over 10.7m; and hole LTDH-006 with 7.11 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag (7.25 g/t AuEq) over 5.95m, including 24.35 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag (24.49 g/t AuEq) over 1.6m.

 ON MINING

  • Aura Minerals Inc., reported Q2, 2023 production results from its Aranzazu Mine in Zacatecas. The company produced 25,192 Oz AuEq, a 4% lower compared to Q2, 2022 due to metal prices.
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., reported Q2, 2023 consolidated and mine-by-mine production results from their Mexican mine operations. The tables below  show consolidated and mine-by-mine figures for the period Q2, 2023 and a comparative to Q2, 2022:
  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., reported Q2, 2023 production results from its San Jose Mine in Oaxaca. The company milled 194,887 tonnes of 168 g/t Ag and 1.02 g/t Au with metallurgical recoveries of 90.83% and 90.24% respectively to produce 957.3K Oz Ag and 5,778 Oz Au.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., reported Q2, 2023 production results from its Parral Tailings project in Chihuahua. The company produced 203.9K Oz Ag, 1,512 Oz Au, and 302.4K Lb Cu (375.1K Oz AgEq).
  • Orla Mining Ltd., reported Q2, 2023 production results from its Camino Rojo Mine in Zacatecas. The company mined 1,787,125 tonnes of 0.76 g/t Au and processed 1,729,374 tonnes of 0.77 g/t Au to produce 29,058 Oz Au. The company sold 29,773 Oz Au. As at June 30, 2023, Orla had a cash position of $114.5M.
  • Capstone Copper Corp., and Argonaut Gold Inc., commented that they will release their Q2, 2023 production results from their Mexican mine operations on August 2 and August 11 respectively.
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., commenced a high-grade pillars exploitation program at its la Valenciana Mine Complex in Guanajuato.  The Valenciana Mines Complex has hundreds of small and large mining pillars located throughout an underground mine network that extends over 4km in strike length and 700m in vertical extent The Company estimates that that there are a minimum of 50 high-grade pillars that have the potential to be extracted as part of this program. Pillars are evaluated for their extraction suitability and mineral potential using the polygon method that calculates the volume, grade and tonnage for each pillar structure.
  • Gold Resource Corporation reported Q2 and H1, 2023 production results from Don David Gold Mine in Oaxaca. Figures are shown in the table below:

Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., announced Q2, 2023 consolidated production results from their Mexican mine operations. Production results are generated from the Company’s wholly owned El Cubo Mines Complex, Valenciana Mines Complex, and San Ignacio Mine in Guanajuato, Mexico, and the Topia Mine in Durango, Mexico. Figures are shown in the table below:

ON FINANCING

  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., announced a non-brokered private placement of units to raise total gross proceeds of up to $1M. Each unit will consist of one common share of the company and one-half (½) of one common share purchase warrant.  Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share of the company at a price of $0.12 at any time on or before that date which is 24 months after the closing date of the offering. Gross proceeds will be used for advancement of studies on the company’s Plomosas Project and for general working capital.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation communicated that it plans to conduct a non-brokered private placement of 16,725,000 common shares at a price of CAD $0.49 per share for gross proceeds of up to CAD $8.2M. Gross proceeds will be used for exploration and production improvements at its Mercedes gold mine Sonora, and for general corporate purposes.  
  • Heliostar Metals Ltd., closed its previously announced private placement of 9,990,200 units of the company at a price of $0.37 per unit for gross proceeds of approximately $7M. Gross proceeds will be used to continue the exploration and development work on its Ana Paula project in Guerrero, as well as for general corporate working capital purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • GoGold Resources Inc., reported on the proposed SART Zn Circuit for its Parral Tailings Project in Chihuahua. Highlights include  a saleable Zn precipitate to be added to the revenue stream; regeneration of approximately 750 tons of cyanide per quarter; anticipated to generate net increased cash flows of $1.5M per quarter; Zn Circuit capital expenditure estimated at $2M over 6 month construction period; project payback expected within 6 months after construction; construction of the Zn Circuit is independent of current SART operations, therefore no interruption to current operations is expected; Parral up to end of its mine life will be a producer of Ag, Au, Cu, and Zn.
  • Prime Mining Corp., released results from 9 holes drilled at the Noche Buena  Zone located in the southeastern most end of the Central Area at its Los Reyes property in Sinaloa. Drilling highlights (estimated true widths reported) include hole 23NB-46 with 4.11 g/t Au and 68 g/t Ag (4.99 g/t AuEq) over 9.1m, including 31.40 g/t Au and 470 g/t Ag (37.48 g/t AuEq) over 1.1m; hole 23NB-39 with 1.23 g/t Au and 21 g/t Ag (1.50 g/t AuEq) over 14m, including 4.19 g/t Au and 76 g/t Ag (5.17 g/t AuEq) over 2m, and hole 23NB-40 with 1.86 g/t Au and 30 g/t Ag (2.25 g/t AuEq) over 5.7m, including 4.75 g/t Au and 68 g/t Ag (5.62 g/t AuEq) over 1.4m.
  • Sonoro Gold Corp., identified oxide mineralized target for resource expansion at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora. “Surface sampling and detailed geologic mapping completed in the northwest region of the property demonstrate three linear structural corridor repetitions with anomalous gold, silver and base metal mineralization, as well as a fourth visually inferred corridor”. Geological mapping and sampling conducted on these areas suggest the potential expansion of the project’s oxide gold mineralized zones and resource.  
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., announced results from 20 expansion drill holes targeting the Copala Resource Area at its Panuco project in Sinaloa. Drilling highlights (true width reported) include hole CS-23-297 with 310 g/t Ag and 2.32 g/t Au (445 g/t AgEq) over 18.5m; hole CS-23-290 with 565 g/t Ag and 3.48 g/t Au (760 g/t AgEq) over 5.05m, including 2,838 g/t Ag and 12.29 g/t Au (3,469 g/t AgEq) over 1m; hole CS-23-286 with 417 g/t Ag and 3.74 g/t Au (640 g/t AgEq) over 4.8m, including 1,585 g/t Ag and 16.2 g/t Au (2,568 g/t AgEq) over 0.68m; and hole CS-23-294 with 6,880 g/t Ag and 16.5 g/t Au (7,512 g/t AgEq) over 1m. These results expand the Copala mineralized footprint laterally by ~370m to the southeast and ~50m to the north.
  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., presented assay results from its ongoing drilling program at its El Limon-Guajes underground mine in Guerrero, including zones referred as El Limon Deep, Sub-Sill, Sub-Sill South, El Limon Sur Deep, and El Limon West (collectively El Limon-Guajes Underground). The best drill intercepts were encountered in hole LS-220 with 88.61 g/t Au, 21 g/t Ag, and 0.04% Cu (88.92 g/t AuEq) over 14.46m, including 75.53 g/t Au, 30 g/t Ag, and 0.04% Cu (75.97 g/t AuEq) over 2m, including 757.86 g/t Au, 126 g/t Ag, and 0.04% Cu (759.47 g/t AuEq) over 1.29m; hole LS-221 with 9.86 g/t Au, 42 g/t Ag, and 0.52% Cu (11.2 g/t AuEq) over 29.38m, including 25.21 g/t Au, 29 g/t Ag, 0.25% Cu (26.06 g/t AuEq) over4.55m, including 25.61 g/t Au, 108 g/t Ag, and 1.27% Cu (28.98 g/t AuEq) over 3.38m, plus 11.84 g/t Au, 74 g/t Ag, and 3.93% Cu (19.03 g/t AuEq) over 13.31m, including 21.18 g/t Au, 94 g/t Ag, and 3.72% Cu (28.29 g/t AuEq) over 5.5m. “These drill results, which include several higher-grade sub-intervals in addition to other impressive intersects, validate the high grade potential associated with the area that runs from El Limón Sur Deep to the La Flaca fault (600 m), known as the El Limón Sur Trend, with potential to extend deeper”. 

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Almaden Minerals Ltd., granted stock options to directors, officers, consultants and employees of the Company to purchase an aggregate 1,110,800 common shares in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of $0.28 per share expiring on July 10, 2028.  (Ixtaca project, Puebla).  
  • Azucar Minerals Ltd., granted stock options to directors, officers, employees, and consultants of the Company to purchase 1,060,800 common shares in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of $0.05 per share which expire on July 10, 2028. (El Cobre, Veracruz).
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., announced Board and Management changes aiming to position the company for continued growth under current market conditions. The company announced the resignations of one of its Directors and the CFO, and announced the appointment of two new Directors to its Board of Directors, and the return to the company of Mr. Blaine Bailey as interim CFO (former CFO retired in May 2023) (Plomosas project, Sinaloa).
  • Monumental Minerals Corp., reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Jemi Rare Earth Element project, Coahuila).
  • Colibri Resources Corporation reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Pilar project, Sonora).
  • Regency Silver Corp., announced that it has engaged Kin Communications Inc., to assist with its investor relations activities, “including communicating with, and marketing to, potential investors, shareholders, and media contacts for a period of 12 months. In consideration for the services, the Company has agreed to pay Kin CAD $15K per month plus GST for the initial 12-month period. In addition, the Company has granted Kin stock options entitling it to purchase 500K of the Company’s common shares at a price of CAD $0.20 per share with a five-year term (Dios Padre project, Sonora).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Industrias Peñoles S.A.B. de C.V., confirmed that it promotes a culture of environmental care in communities, for which the company periodically implements a series of activities with its collaborators and with the communities in which it operates. More than five thousand people from 42 communities close to the mine operations attended the activities, including: training for personnel and contractors; talks in educational centers of basic and upper secondary level; sports activities; reforestation of community properties; donation of endemic tree species from each region; cleaning days in the communities; and eco-fairs and recreational activities.

  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 REDOX front in a Red-Bed Cu prospect in Tamaulipas, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of July 2023

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By Jorge Cirett                                             

During the 27th week of the year (July 3rd to July 9th, 2023), 11 companies working in Mexico posted news releases. One company informed on exploration work at its property, while there were no relevant news on mining. One company informed on the closing of private placement. Two companies reported on work at their advanced properties. One company deferred a significant payment on the acquisition of a property and one more announced the revocation of a management cease trade order. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Camimex pointed that investment in the mining industry is down 34.5% from its high in 2012, and that Mexico has fallen 17 places in the Investment Attractiveness Index by the Fraser Institute since 2010.  ON EXPLORATION, in Sonora, Tocvan Ventures concluded the leaching test of material from the Pilar project. ON MINING, no relevant news. ON FINANCING, Canuc Resources closed a CAD$2 M non-brokered private placement. Inomin Mines granted 1.4 M stock options to directors and advisors of the company. ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Avino Silver & Gold Mines released results from deep drilling at its Avino property in Durango. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Bear Creek Mining signed an agreement with Equinox Gold to defer a US$26 M payment over the acquisition of the Mercedes mine in Sonora. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Discovery Silver released its 2022 ESG report. ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • According to Camimex (Cámara minera de México) investment in the Mexican mining industry in 2022 was 5.26 billion dollars (5,265 million pesos), a 34.5% drop relative to the historic high in 2012. Camimex president, Jaime Gutierrez Núñez, pointed that stability is needed and that the mining industry has to be incentivized, further adding that Mexico has lost 17 position is the Investing Attractiveness Index by the Fraser Institute from 2010 to 2022. The major concern of the sector relies on the exploration front, as the new law set an exploration monopoly by the government.
  • Camimex is trying to build along the Secretaría de Economía (SE) a new regional mining workplan along with the governors of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas and Guerrero, entities that comprise 84% of the national mining production. The plan had been presented to Tatiana Clouthier, the latter head of the SE.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Colibri Resource Corp. reported that its option partner Tocvan Ventures concluded the leaching process of bulk sample materials from its Pilar property in Sonora. The final results for recovery are pending on the 44 days of active leaching completed. New agitated bottle roll test returned 81% Au, 99% Ag recovery after 72 hours.

ON MINING

  • No Relevant News.

ON FINANCING

  • Canuc Resources Corp. closed a non-brokered private placement raising CAD $2 M. (San Javier, Sonora).
  • Inomin Mines Inc. reported the granting of 1.4 M stock options to directors and advisors of the company (La Gitana, Oaxaca).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. released results from three drill holes on its Avino property, in Durango. The holes were drilled below Level 17, the current deepest working at the Elena Tolosa (ET) area of the Avino system. Highlighted true width results comprise 11.00 m @ 0.12 gpt Au, 148 gpt Ag, 0.58% Cu; 10.20 m @ 0.11 gpt Au, 138 gpt Ag, 0.33% Cu; 57.00 m @ 0.55 gpt Au, 99 gpt Ag, 1.21% Cu (including 0.80 m @ 1.74 gpt Au, 956 gpt Ag, 7.30% Cu; and 0.89 m @ 1.98 gpt Au, 1,243 gpt Ag, 5.81% Cu; and 0.85 m @ 16.50 gpt Au, 1,791 gpt Ag, 8.69% Cu; and 0.89 m @ 10.60 gpt Au, 1,083 gpt Ag, 8.58% Cu). “The direction of the increasing copper grade plunges steeply towards the east in the Avino vein. The changing tenor of the mineralization could be reflecting a transition from epithermal to porphyry-style mineralization”.
  • Southern Silver Exploration Corp. launched an interactive 3D and 360 degree presentation for the Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango (https://api.newsfilecorp.com/redirect/BpNNNFLRDO).

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES              

  • Bear Creek Mining Corp. signed an agreement with Equinox Gold Corp. to defer a US$26 M current liability by issuing a five-year convertible promissory note with 7% interest. Payment of the note will satisfy the final purchase price installment for the Mercedes mine in Sonora.
  • Gatos Silver Inc. announced that on July 4, 2023 the Ontario Securities Commission fully revoked the management cease trade orders granted in respect of certain former and current senior officers on April 1, 2022, April 12, 2022 and July 7, 2022 (Cerro Los Gatos, Chihuahua).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Discovery Silver Corp. released its 2022 ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) report, including the reception of the Socially Responsible Enterprise (ESR) and Great Place to Work awards.

On the image below: Vein ridges on a project in the Sonoran Desert. Picture by Jorge Cirett.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Fifth Week of June, 2023

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Quartz-Sericte-Pyrite (Phyllic alteration)

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 26th week of the year (June 26th to July 2nd, 2023), at least 33 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 2 news published by the media with eleven disclosing deals and corporate issues, eleven announcing financing issues, five reporting resources and developments of their properties, four informing on exploration results, two commenting on Mexican issues, and one communicating production and financial results. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Silver Bull commenced international arbitration proceedings against the United Mexican States for the Mexico’s unlawful expropriation and other unlawful treatment of Silver Bull and its investments. Violent mining takeover in Coahuila; point to followers of Senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Prismo released trenching sampling results from its Los Pavitos project, and Colibri outlined mineralized structures on the Banco de Oro and Bonancita target areas at its the Plomo project. In Chihuahua, Reyna Silver commenced a drilling program at its Batopilas project. In Sinaloa, Prismo commented that it is currently drilling at its Palos Verdes project. In Durango, Orex secured surface access and core storage facilities for exploration on its Sandra Silver-Gold project. ON MINING, Gatos Silver reported Q1, 2023 financial results for its Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua where it owns a 70% interest.  ON FINANCING, Golden Minerals entered into a definitive agreement for the purchase and sale of an aggregate of 1,427,587 shares of commons stock at a price of USD $1.45 per unit (USD $2.1M) in a registered direct offering, which was closed later on obtaining the previously announced gross proceeds of USD $2.1M from the direct offering (Rodeo mine, Durango). Avino renewed a new short form base shelf prospectus and a prospectus supplement in Canada, to distribute common shares from time to time pursuant to a sales agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, Roth Capital Partners, LLC, and A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, in the United States up to the aggregate sales amount of USD $25M (Avino mine, Durango). Endeavour entered into a sales agreement with some Agents to raise up to USD $60M (Terronera project, Jalisco). Advance Lithium announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $1M (Sarape project, Sonora). Aloro stated that due to market conditions it will not be proceeding with the previously announced private placement dated on March 03, 2023 (Quitovac project, Sonora). Heliostar announced a brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $5M; the same that later on was increased to up to $7M (Ana Paula project, Guerrero). Luca Mining closed the third and final tranche of its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $24,896,551   (Tahuehueto project, Durango). Benjamin Hill announced that its previously announced non-brokered private placement has been extended to allow the Company and its investors time to complete and deliver subscription agreements (Sonora Gold project, Sonora). Colibri declared that it intends to conduct a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to USD $1M (Evelyn project, Sonora).  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Southern Silver reported that metallurgical scoping tests confirm the technical feasibility of recovering both free cyanide-leachable gold and refractory gold from pyritic material (Cerro Las Minitas project, Durango). Minaurum extended the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) for the development of its Alamos Silver project in Sonora. Guanajuato Silver provided an updated PEA for its El Cubo Mine Complex in Guanajuato. Luca Mining hit 500 tonnes per day milestone at its Tahuehueto project in Durango. GoGold filed a National Instrument 43-101 PEA technical report for its Los Ricos North project in Jalisco. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Bear Creek granted incentive stock option to its recently promoted President and CEO (Mercedes Mine, Sonora). Mag Silver, Almaden, Sierra Metals, Goldgroup, Aztec Minerals, and Guanajuato Silver reported results from their annual general and special meeting of shareholders. Goldgroup issued a press release to clarify and retract certain disclosures with respect to the Company’s Cerro Prieto and San Jose de Gracia projects in Sonora and Sinaloa respectively. Canasil announced that the British Columbia Securities Commission revoked the temporary management cease trade order issued against certain insiders of the company (Nora project, Durango). Gatos Silver provided bi-weekly status report in accordance with National Policy 12-203- Management Cease Trade Order (Cerro Los Gatos Mine, Chihuahua). Tarachi has decided to discontinue the option agreement with Exploradora Cobre de Bacanora for the properties located in Sonora (Magistral Mill & Tailings project, Durango).. (ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Industrias Peñoles and Fresnillo plc, Mexican mining companies of Grupo BAL, in favor of reforestation.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Silver Bull Resources Inc., commenced international arbitration proceedings against the United Mexican States under the Agreement between the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada, and the North American Free Trade Agreement, for the Mexico’s unlawful expropriation and other unlawful treatment of Silver Bull and its investments resulting from the illegal blockade of Silver Bull’s Sierra Mojada project in Coahuila.
  • Violent mining takeover in Coahuila; point to followers of Senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia. With short weapons, machetes and bats, people identified as related to the Morenista senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia seized the town of Hércules, in Coahuila, a place of little more than 8 thousand inhabitants that was generated around the operations of extraction of iron from Minera Del Norte, a subsidiary of Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA). In a statement, the Mining Union indicated that the conflict occurred after a group majority of workers from Minera Del Norte and AHMSA decided to abandon the organization headed by Gómez Urrutia to join the National Democratic Union of Miners, and he has responded the same as he did in Zacatecas, Guerrero, Sonora and other areas, generating violence and stopping the activities of the mining companies. Minera Del Norte is the main iron extraction company in the region; all the material extracted by the workers is sent to Monclova through a 300 kilometer railway, for use as an input in the AHMSA smelting furnaces.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Prismo Metals Inc., released trenching sampling results from its Los Pavitos project in Sonora. Highlights assays include ZA2 (Auras Zone)  with 2.2 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag over 19m long, including 10.3g/t Au and 104 g/t Ag over 4m long; ZSC9 (Santa Cruz Zone) with 0.5 g/t Au over 8m long; and ZSC10 with 2.3 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag over 7.8m long. The company intends to explore these mineralized zones by drilling, planned to commence shortly.
  • Colibri Resource Corporation outlined mineralized structures on the Banco de Oro and Bonancita target areas at its the Plomo project in Sonora. At the Banco de Oro target, the mineralization consists of brecciated quartz veins hosted in foliated sericitized and pyrite bearing rhyolites. Recent geological mapping and sampling has covered an area of approximately 41 hectares, extending approximately 500m north of the historic Banco de Oro mine. Gold values were detected in 46 of the 64 analyzed samples, of which 14 samples returned >0.1 g/t Au, with a high grade of 1.45 g/t Au. At the Bonancita target, mineralization consists of four prospects, all of which contain historical assays from outcrop samples returning > 1 g/t Au. Three of the prospects, Bonancita, Bonancita NWI and Bonancita NWII form a NW trend approximately 2 km in length which is coincident with both a strong topographic lineament and with a strong, NW trending, regional scale magnetic gradient lineament. The recent geological mapping and sampling was conducted on the southernmost prospect, where the objective was to evaluate a NW mineralized trend defined by historical sampling including a high value of 7.62 g/t Au. The exploration program covered over 60 hectares and a total of 75 samples were collected for gold analyses, of which 15 samples returned > 0.1 g/t Au and 3 returned > 1 g/t Au with a peak value of 2.72 g/t Au. Exploration work will continue on the Plomo property to support advanced exploration and an inaugural drill program.
  • Reyna Silver Corp., commenced a 3,000m drilling program at its Batopilas project in Chihuahua, to test targets generated over the past year following recognition of the overlapping gold and silver mineralizing events.
  • Prismo Metals Inc., commented that it is currently drilling at its Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa, where six holes have been completed for a total of 928m, mainly along the northeastern extension of the vein system and certain areas in the southwestern portion where previous drilling was performed.
  • Orex Minerals Inc., secured surface access and core storage facilities for exploration on its Sandra Silver-Gold project in Durango. Sandra Silver-Gold is a 60:40 JV between Pan American Silver Corp., and Orex.

ON MINING

  • Gatos Silver Inc., reported Q1, 2023 financial results for its Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua where it owns a 70% interest. The company reported a revenue of USD $69.9M; a cost of sales of USD $26M; a cash flow from operations of USD $40M; a net income of USD $12.7M; an EBIDTA of USD $39.6M; a free cash flow of USD $28.7M; and a by-product cash cost of USD $2.66 per payable Oz Ag and a by-product all-in sustaining cost of USD $6.11 per payable Oz Ag.

ON FINANCING

  • Golden Minerals Company entered into a definitive agreement for the purchase and sale of an aggregate of 1,427,587 shares of commons stock at a price of USD $1.45 per unit (USD $2.1M) in a registered direct offering. In a concurrent private placement, the Company will issue unregistered warrants to purchase up to 1,427,587 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $1.90 per share which will be exercisable six months from the date of issuance and for a period of five years following initial exercise date. The offering is expected to close on or about June 29, 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Later on, the company announced that it closed the registered direct offering obtaining the previously announced gross proceeds of USD $2.1M. Golden will use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes (Rodeo mine, Durango).
  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., renewed a new short form base shelf prospectus and a prospectus supplement in Canada, to pursuant to which Avino may distribute common shares from time to time pursuant to a sales agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, Roth Capital Partners, LLC, and A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, as agents or as principals, for the distribution of the Offered Shares in the United States up to the aggregate sales amount of USD $25M (Avino mine, Durango).
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., entered into a sales agreement with BMO Capital Markets Corp. (the lead agent), CIBC World Markets Inc., TD Securities (USA) LLC, H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, B. Riley Securities, Inc., Raymond James (USA) Ltd. and National Bank of Canada Financial, Inc., pursuant to which the Company may, at its discretion and from time-to-time during the 25 month term of the Sales Agreement, sell, through the Agents, such number of common shares of the Company as would result in aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of up to USD $60M. Gross proceeds will be used to fund the construction and development of the Company’s Terronera Mine, to advance the evaluation and development of the Pitarrilla and Parral properties, to assess potential development stage mineral properties for acquisition, to fund the potential acquisition of other development stage mineral properties, for continued exploration on the Company’s existing mineral properties and to add to the Company’s working capital. 
  • Advance Lithium Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement of units at a price of $0.04 per unit. Each Unit shall be comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company and one common share purchase warrant with each warrant being exercisable to purchase one common share at a price of $0.05 per share at any time within 60 months of the date of issuance. The Financing will be for a maximum of $1M resulting in 21,250,000 units being issued. Part of the gross proceeds will be used to advance the Lithium and Sarape projects in Mexico and for general corporate purposes.
  • Aloro Mining Corp., stated that due to market conditions it will not be proceeding with the previously announced private placement dated on March 03, 2023. As announced by News Release on May 9, 2023, the Company closed a first tranche of the private placement for aggregate proceeds of $130K (Quitovac project, Sonora).
  • Heliostar Metals Ltd., announced a brokered private placement of up to 13,513,513 units of the company at a price of $0.37 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $5M, the same that later on was increased up to 14,324,324 units plus additional non-brokered private placement of 4,594,594 units for gross proceeds of up to $7M. Gross proceeds will be used to continue the exploration and development work at its Ana Paula project in Guerrero.
  • Luca Mining Corp., closed the third and final tranche of its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $24,896,551   (Tahuehueto project, Durango).
  • Benjamin Hill Corp., announced that its previously announced non-brokered private placement Has been extended to allow the Company and its investors time to complete and deliver subscription agreements. All other terms of the Offering remain the same allowing for a maximum of 3,333,333 Units at a price of $0.12 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $400K (Sonora Gold project, Sonora).
  • Colibri Resources Corporation declared that it intends to conduct a non-brokered private placement of up to 1,000 for gross proceeds of up to USD $1M. Each Unit will consist of one (1) USD $1,000 principal amount 10% unsecured convertible debenture, and 5,416 common share purchase warrants. Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one common share of the Corporation at a price of CAD $0.12 per common share for a period of 24 months following the closing of this offering. Net proceeds will be used for working capital and exploration expenses including drilling on the Evelyn/Plomo and Diamante/El Mezquite/Jackie projects.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Southern Silver Exploration Corp., reported that metallurgical scoping tests confirm the technical feasibility of recovering both free cyanide-leachable gold and refractory gold from pyritic material through a process of fine grinding and hot atmospheric pressure oxidation followed by cyanide leaching. “Both sulphide and oxide composites were tested as part of the metallurgical program. Mass balance reconciliations on the sulphide composite testwork indicate that 50% of the total gold is recoverable by hot atmospheric pressure oxidation prior to cyanide leaching at an overall 83.9% recovery. An additional 21.5% of gold is recovered into a copper concentrate at payable grades for a total of 71.5% recovery of gold”. It will de-risk and increase the value of the Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango.
  • Minaurum Gold Inc., extended the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) for the development of its Alamos Silver project in Sonora, which includes the construction of drill pads, clean-up of preexisting roads, and the rehabilitation and reactivation of historical underground mine workings.
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., provided an updated PEA for its El Cubo Mine Complex in Guanajuato. The upgraded Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for El Cubo Mine Complex and financial parameters are shown in the next tables respectively:
  • Luca Mining Corp., hit 500 tonnes per day milestone at its Tahuehueto project in Durango on schedule and budget, but the focus is on towards the ultimate goal of commercial production at 1,000 tonnes per day by year-end.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., filed a National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) technical report for its Los Ricos North project in Jalisco. The table below shows the Mineral Resource Estimate as of May 17, 2023:

Highlights of the PEA, with a base case silver price of USD $23/Oz and gold price of USD $1,800/Oz include an after-tax NPV at a discount rate of 5% of USD $413M with an after-tax IRR of 29%; a 13-year mine life producing a total of 110.3M payable Oz AgEq consisting of 68M Oz Ag, 221.7K Oz Au, 22.8M Lb Cu, 144.1M Lb Pb, and 242.2M Lb Zn; an initial capital cost of USD $221M, including USD $29M in contingency costs, over an expected 18 months build; an additional expansion capital of USD $137M, and sustain capital cost of USD $6M over the life of mine (LOM); an average LOM operating cash costs of USD $9.50 per Oz AgEq, and all in sustaining costs of USD $9.69 per Oz AgEq; and average annual production of 8.8M Oz AgEq in year one through twelve; and approximately 3/4 of LOM production is from four open pits containing oxide mineralization and approximately 1/4 is from a separate open pit which contains only sulphide mineralization.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation granted incentive stock option to its recently promoted President and CEO. The Stock Options will vest periodically in accordance with the 2022 Plan and may be exercised on or before June 26, 2033 at an exercise price of CAD $0.45 per share, being the closing price of the Company’s shares on the TSX Venture exchange on June 23, 2023. (Mercedes Mine, Sonora).
  • Mag Silver Corp., Almaden Minerals Ltd., Sierra Metals Inc., Goldgroup Mining Inc., Aztec Minerals Corp., and Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., reported results from its annual general and special meeting of shareholders (Juanicipio mine, Zacatecas).
  • Goldgroup Mining Inc., issued a press release to clarify and retract certain disclosures with respect to the Company’s Cerro Prieto and San Jose de Gracia projects in Sonora and Sinaloa respectively. “The Company would like to clarify that the mining key performance indicators in the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the period ended September 30, 2022, year ended December 31, 2022 and period ended March 31, 2023 under the heading Financial And Operational Highlights have not been reviewed by the Company’s qualified person as stated and should not be relied upon. The Company is in the process of reviewing its internal procedures regarding qualified person requirements to ensure all future required disclosure are appropriately reviewed by a qualified person. In addition, the disclosure in the 2022 Annual Information Form (AIF) has triggered the requirement to file a technical report for the projects under s.4.2 (1)(f) of NI 43-101 and the Company would like to state that information in the 2022 AIF is not supported by a compliant NI 43-101 technical report, contrary to NI 43-101, and that the information should not be relied on until it has been verified and supported by a technical report”.
  • Canasil Resources Inc., announced that the British Columbia Securities Commission revoked the temporary management cease trade order issued against certain insiders of the company on May 03, 2023 (Nora project, Durango).
  • Gatos Silver Inc., provided a bi-weekly default status report in accordance with National Policy (NP) 12-203- Management Cease Trade Order (MCTO). “Pursuant to NP 12-203, the Company must file bi-weekly status reports in the form of further news releases during the period from the Notice until the MCTO is revoked. The Company reports that since the Notice: (i) there have been no material changes regarding the information contained in the Notice that have not been disclosed in a bi-weekly default status report or in a news release referenced therein; (ii) there have been no failures by the Company in fulfilling its stated intentions with respect to satisfying the provisions of the alternative information guidelines under NP 12-203; and (iii) there has not been any specified default subsequent to the defaults announced in the Notice and the news releases dated May 13, 2022, August 5, 2022, November 11, 2022, March 30, 2023 and May 15, 2023” (Cerro Los Gatos Mine, Chihuahua).
  • Tarachi Gold Corp., after a thorough review of the mineral concessions owned by Exploradora Cobre de Bacanora S de R.L. de C.V., has decided to discontinue the option agreement for the properties located in Sonora. Tarachi is evaluating new precious metal opportunities in North America and has reduced its ongoing overhead costs to conserve its significant cash assets during this review process (Magistral Mill & Tailings project, Durango).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Industrias Peñoles S.A.B. de C.V., and Fresnillo plc, Mexican mining companies of Grupo BAL, in favor of reforestation. Both in the operation of their mining units and in their neighboring communities have implemented sustainability programs through which they encourage all people to join in caring for the flora. All the group’s operating units are located outside protected natural areas or areas of value for biodiversity and have reforestation programs and nurseries, where endemic species of the regions where they operate are cultivated.

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, phyllic alteration (quartz-sericite-pyrite) in a project in Jalisco, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Third Week of June, 2023

/ gambusinoprospectormexico / Leave a comment

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 24th week of the year (June 12th to June 18th, 2023), at least 23 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 1 news published by the media with nine disclosing deals and corporate issues, seven reporting resources and developments of their properties, three commenting on Mexican issues, two informing on exploration results, two announcing financing issues, and one discussing social issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, United States asked Mexico to review a claim at a Grupo México mine in the center of the country for an alleged denial of labor rights. Newmont Corporation suspended operations at its Peñasquito mine, in Zacatecas, after the workers’ union announced the strike. Gold Resource, GR Silver and Heliostar reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of June, 2023. ON EXPLORATION, Prismo provided an updated on its exploration programs at Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa and Los Pavitos in Sonora. In Oaxaca, Vortex provided a comprehensive overview of the exploration work completed to date at its Zaachila project. ON MINING, No relevant news.  ON FINANCING, Goldgroup announced proposed settlement of a loan obtained from Accendo Banco S.A (Cerro Prieto, Sonora). Silver Valley announced financing-early warrant exercise incentive program intended to encourage the early exercise of up to 12,897,114 outstanding warrants of the company (La Salada Salar, Zacatecas). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Heliostar reported results from four holes drilled within and above the High-Grade Panel at the core of its Ana Paula project in Guerrero. Colibri and its JV partner Tocvan announced positive results from its ongoing bulk sample testing at the Pilar project in Sonora. GR Silver announced results of two additional step-out holes drilled at its San Marcial project in Sinaloa.  Heliostar issued a press release to clarify certain of its previous disclosure regarding its Ana Paula project in Guerrero. Prime filed a technical report for its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Colibri announced that it has been informed by its JV partner Agnico Eagle that the Pitaya Gold project in Sonora has been sold to a third party. Silver Dollar reported that it has terminated the exclusivity period signed with Canasil due to general market conditions. Endeavour announced the appointment of its new Vice President, Operations (Guanacevi mine, Durango). Santacruz reported that it shares will resume trading on Friday June 16, 2023 on the TSX Venture Exchange (Zimapan mine, Hidalgo). Golden Minerals appointed its new Executive Vice President (Rodeo mine, Durango). SilverCrest reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Las Chispas Mine, Sonora). Kootenay declared that now it owns 100% of Columba property in Chihuahua after completing the final property payment. Gold Resource announced the resignation of one of its independent Directors of the Board of Directors (Don David Mine, Oaxaca). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, SilverCrest released its inaugural 2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report (Las Chispas mine, Sonora).

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • United States asked Mexico to review a claim at a Grupo México mine in the center of the country for an alleged denial of labor rights, within the framework of the North American trade agreement, T-MEC, the US Department of Labor. The San Martín mine in Zacatecas owned by Industrial Minera México SA de CV, a subsidiary of the Americas Mining Corp. branch of Grupo México, has a labor complaint issued by the United States government, for denying workers the right to syndical freedom. The petition alleges the violation of the United Steelworkers and the National Union of Mining, Metallurgical, Steel and Similar Workers of the Republic of Mexico (Los Mineros)’ rights as a holder of the collective bargaining agreement at the San Martín mine and the hiring of workers to replace striking workers in violation of the collective bargaining agreement and Mexican law. The US government investigation revealed evidence of violations of the Los Mineros’ collective bargaining rights that warranted a request for review under the USMCA.
  • Newmont Corporation suspended operations at its Peñasquito mine, in Zacatecas, after the workers’ union announced the strike. The reason for this conflict is a fight over a profit-sharing agreement, the miner said in a statement. Newmont added that at the end of May the company paid the workers the equivalent of 10 percent profits, in accordance with the Law. The Union notified the Company of a strike action demanding an increase in the uncapped profit sharing benefit provided for in the Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) from 10 percent to 20 percent, representing a 100 percent increase. In response to the strike notice, Minera Peñasquito suspended operations in a safe and orderly manner. Essential activities related to safety, security and environmental monitoring and protection continue. This is the third labor dispute since Peñasquito was purchased by Newmont in 2019. Newmont remains willing to participate in conciliation meetings to reach a resolution in accordance with the CBA, and will continue to adhere to legal procedures, respecting the rights of all its employees, inviting the Union to engage in a constructive dialogue, and providing the authorities with all requested information.
  • Gold Resource Corporation, GR Silver Mining Ltd., and Heliostar Metals Ltd., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of June, 2023. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Prismo Metals Inc., provided an updated on its exploration programs at Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa and Los Pavitos in Sonora. Highlights at Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa include an ongoing 2,500m drilling program; 5 holes have been completed for a total of 727m; samples from the three first holes have been submitted to the lab for analysis; and a rock chip sample from mapped veins returned an assay of 840 g/t AgEq (700 g/t Ag and1.68 g/t Au) over a sample width of 1m. Highlights at Los Pavitos project in Sonora include 295 meters of trenches constructed and sampled with assay results received for 96.7 meters; an interval of 0.44 g/t Au over 10m in trench ZSC9; high grade silver assays in surface sampling in northeast Santa Cruz area; and a 2,500m drill program to start by the end of June, 2023.
  • Vortex Metals Inc., provided a comprehensive overview of the exploration work completed to date at its Zaachila project in Oaxaca. “The company is advancing towards the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to the Federal Environmental Office, The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), therefore fulfilling the Mexican government’s requirements for proposed drill targets.  The company believes the EIA will be completed and submitted within the next 3 to 4 months, encompassing a refined definition of the drill targets at Zaachila. Following its successful submission, Vortex will focus on obtaining the drill program approval from the Mexican government”.

ON MINING

  • No relevant news.

ON FINANCING

  • Goldgroup Mining Inc., announced proposed settlement of a loan obtained from Accendo Banco S.A., Multiple Banking Institution in 2020.  In June 2020, the Company’s subsidiary, Minas de Oroco Resources, S.A. de C.V. completed a definitive loan facility agreement with Accendo in the amount of USD $3M at a rate of 12% per annum with a final repayment date of 36 months from the date of the first disbursement. “The company guaranteed the Accendo Loan on behalf of Minas de Oroco. The amount currently outstanding under the Accendo Loan is approximately USD $185M. The debt underlying the Accendo Loan has been acquired by Minera Cerro Esperanza S.A de C.V. (MER), a wholly owned subsidiary of Calu Opportunity Fund LP (Calu). Calu is a shareholder and investor in the Company having acquired 1,177,500 Common Shares and having loaned the Company USD $2.16M (the Calu Loan). The Company will be seeking shareholder approval for the conversion of the Calu Loan into Common Shares of the Company at the Shareholders Meeting, which approval shall exclude any votes cast by Calu. MER contacted the Company on April 26, 2023 seeking repayment of the Accendo Loan. As the assets of Minas de Oroco are currently the only operating assets of the Company, the seizure of these assets would effectively place the Company into insolvency unless another arrangement was made. Further to discussions with MER, the Company is proposing to enter into a Settlement Agreement and an Exploitation and Option to Purchase Agreement, subject to approval of minority shareholders at the Meeting, pursuant to which the Company will deliver the assets of Minas de Oroco to MER in full satisfaction of the Accendo Loan and the Company is provided the right to operate the assets of Minas de Oroco and to purchase the assets in the future” (Cerro Prieto mine, Sonora).
  • Silver Valley Metals Corp., announced financing-early warrant exercise incentive program intended to encourage the early exercise of up to 12,897,114 outstanding warrants of the company. The Eligible Warrants were issued by the Company pursuant to a private placement financing completed on January 3, 2023.  The Eligible Warrants are exercisable to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of $0.15 per share, with 9,297,114 Eligible Warrants expiring November 17, 2024 and 3,600,000 Eligible Warrants expiring January 3, 2025 (La Salada Salar, Zacatecas).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Heliostar Metals Ltd., reported results from four holes drilled within and above the High-Grade Panel at the core of its Ana Paula project in Guerrero. “This is the area of the deposit that Heliostar believes has the potential to increase grade significantly. This drill program will evaluate Ana Paula’s ability to host a high-margin, underground gold mine development opportunity”. Hole AP-23-293 encountered 6 g/t Au over 129.2m, including 13.4 g/t Au over 46m; hole AP-23-294 intersected 2.1 g/t Au over 67.2m, including 6.4 g/t Au over 13.95m; hole AP-23-295 encountered 2.6 g/t Au over 41.5m, including 4.9 g/t Au over 5.5m, plus 3.7 g/t Au over 8m; and hole AP-23-296 with 1.9 g/t Au over 26m, including 13.6 g/t Au over 2m.
  • Colibri Resource Corporation and its JV partner Tocvan Ventures Corp., announced positive results from its ongoing bulk sample testing at the Pilar project in Sonora. Preliminary results from the leaching process ongoing confirm that the process is actively recovering gold and silver; gold and silver is reported in initial testing of carbon filters; and solution samples assayed at two separate certified labs confirm grade.  Regarding the fine fraction samples (to be used for Gravity Recovery and Agitated Leach Test), the new samples range between 1.2 and 4.9 g/t Au, weighted mean of 2.1 g/t Au; the silver values range between 5 and 29 g/t Ag, weighted mean of 14.8 g/t Ag; leach study returned 95-99% recovery of gold, 73-79% recovery of silver; and metallic screen results show 12.4 to 14.1% of the gold is coarse (+140 mesh).
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., announced results of two additional step-out holes drilled at its San Marcial project in Sinaloa. Hole SMS23-03 intersected 111 g/t Ag, 0.01 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 17.3m, including 640 g/t Ag, and 0.03 g/t Au over 1.7m, plus 132 g/t Ag, 0.02 g/t Au, and 0.1% Zn over 6.3m, plus  134 g/t Ag, 0.11 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.4% Zn over 35.3m. Hole SMS23-04 encountered 32 g/t Ag, 0.03 g/t Au, 0.1% Pb, and 0.1% Zn over 15m. “The wide silver intervals intersected in holes SMS23-03 and SMS23-04 continue to support the potential for extension of the wide mineralization geometry along strike. The drilling program, with two additional drill holes (for a total of six), aims to extend the footprint of the SE Area Discovery Zone for an additional 450 m along strike to the southeast, outside the Mineral Resource”.
  • Heliostar Metals Ltd., issued a press release to clarify certain of its previous disclosure regarding its Ana Paula project in Guerrero. The Company previously disclosed statements which could constitute an economic analysis of its intended re-scoping of the Ana Paula Project. The Company wishes to retract the Disclosure. The Company has not completed an economic analysis on the re-scoping of the Ana Paula Project and the Disclosure is not supported by a technical report in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The Company advises readers not to rely on the Disclosure.
  • Prime Mining Corp., filed a technical report for its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa, for the updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) reported on May 2, 2023.  The addition of 100,000m of Prime drilling has doubled the current MRE compared to the April 2020 resource.  The table below shows the updated open pit 2023 MRE:

The MRE has a high-grade open pit mill resource and a lower grade heap leach portion.  The MRE includes drilling completed before December 31, 2022 from only the three main zones at Los Reyes: Guadalupe, Z-T and Central. This MRE does not include positive results from: Mariposa, Las Primas and Fresnillo. With ongoing drilling success, the Company believes there is significant potential to expand the MRE.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Colibri Resource Corporation announced that it has been informed by its JV partner Agnico Eagle Mining that the Pitaya Gold project in Sonora has been sold to a third party. In 2019, Colibri signed an agreement with Agnico to sell its 23% interest to Agnico or another buyer for a minimum of USD $500K. In 2020, Colibri was advanced USD $300K from Agnico which was secured by Colibri´s ownership of the JV company. Colibri will receive USD $500K from the sale less the outstanding loan principal and interest owed.
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., reported that it has terminated the exclusivity period signed with Canasil Resources Inc., due to general market conditions. “The purpose of the Exclusivity Agreement was to give Silver Dollar the opportunity to review Canasil’s assets and consider a corporate merger. Termination of the exclusivity period does not affect the separate Option Agreement between the parties, whereby Silver Dollar can earn a 100% interest in Canasil’s Nora silver-gold property”. Pursuant to the agreements, Canasil now has 60 days to repay the $200K non-interest-bearing loan Silver Dollar provided in return for the exclusivity period and the Nora Option.
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., announced the appointment of its new Vice President, Operations, to oversee the Company´s underground mining operations in Mexico (Guanacevi mine, Durango; Bolañitos mine, Guanajuato).
  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., reported that it shares will resume trading on Friday June 16, 2023 on the TSX Venture Exchange, following the cease trade order being lifted by the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission on Friday June 9, 2023 (Zimapan mine, Hidalgo).
  • Golden Minerals Company appointed its new Executive Vice President Pablo Castaños, who will be joining the company on July 1, 2023 (Rodeo mine, Durango).
  • SilverCrest Metals Inc., reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders. The company also announced that independent consultants are continuing to advance the Updated Technical Report. This work is progressing well, with the results from this study now expected to be released in July 2023 (Las Chispas Mine, Sonora).
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., declared that now it owns 100% of Columba property in Chihuahua after completing the final property payment. The final payment of USD $215K was made and paid in cash on May 12, 2023. The company has paid a total of USD $3.29M in staged payments (of which USD $215K was paid in common shares of the Company, commencing November 2018 to earn 100% ownership. The vendor retains a 2% royalty of which 1% can be purchased by the Company for USD $750K.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • SilverCrest Metals Inc., released its inaugural 2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. The Company’s principal focus is its Las Chispas Operation located in Sonora, Mexico. “This report reflects Silver Crest’s dedication to creating a strong sustainability framework and provides stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the Company’s ESG performance and goals”.

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, phyllic alteration (quartz-sericite-pyrite) in an intrusive rock in a prospect in Tamaulipas, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico; Highlights on the Second Week of June 2023

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By Jorge Cirett                                             

During the 23rd week of the year (June 5th to May 11th, 2023), 14 companies working in Mexico posted news releases. One company informed on exploration at one of its properties, two companies informed on quarterly reports and one on its financing dependant plans to resume mining. Two companies updated on private placements and one announced the payment of dividends. One company released drilling results on its advanced property in Zacatecas. One company informed on its path to a legal battle with the Mexican government and one other on solving issues related to disclosure of refinancing. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Newmont’s Peñasquito mine in Zacatecas suspended operations due to a strike over profit sharing schemes.  relevant news. ON EXPLORATION, in Zacatecas, Radius Gold informed on current work and targeting process at Tropico. ON MINING, Santacruz Silver Mining released Q4 and full year 2022 financial and operating reports, Golden Minerals reported results for Q4 2022, full year 2022 and Q1 2023. ON FINANCING, Radius Gold closed its placement for $1.95 M in gross proceeds. Luca Mining closed the second tranche of its placement, accruing $20.75 M, and settled debt by issuing $8.6 M in shares. ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Defiance Silver released results from drilling at the Veta Grande system in the Zacatecas District. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Silver Bull intends to seek US$178 M in compensation from the Mexican government over its reluctance to terminate an illegal blockade at its Sierra Mojada project in Coahuila. Sierra Metals announced its meeting materials with respect to certain disclosure relating to refinancing with its major lenders. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • Newmont Corp. announced on June 8th, 2023, the suspension of operations at the Peñasquito mine in Zacatecas. The company refutes claims by the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic regarding the violation of legal regulations and labor agreements. The Company urged the Union to abide by the mutually agreed Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated and signed by both parties in June of 2022. The Union is demanding an increase in the uncapped profit sharing benefit provided for in the CBA from 10 percent to 20 percent, representing a 100 percent increase. “Prior to the strike action, Newmont attempted, in good faith, to resolve disputes regarding the provisions in the CBA, negotiated and signed by both parties for the period of June 2022 through June 2024. This agreement covered a range of benefits, including an annual profit sharing provision based on a consistent calculation formula. ….. On May 30, 2023, Minera Peñasquito paid all eligible employees the mutually agreed upon 10 percent profit sharing benefit for 2023, accurately and on time”.

ON EXPLORATION

  • Radius Gold Inc. informed on new targets defined at its Tropico project in Zacatecas. In the three months since acquisition Radius has completed geological mapping, surface rock sampling and a deep penetrating CSMAT geophysical survey, establishing a hotspring type sinter, a breccia pipe and a strong resistive feature named Capricorn interpreted as a second potential breccia pipe structure. “The Tropico gold system is roughly oval shaped, 450m long by 250m wide orientated NNE”.

ON MINING

  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. reported its financial and operating results for Q4 2022 and the full year. During the year the company processed 1.65 M tonnes to produce 5.6 M Oz Ag, 10,065 tonnes Pb, 72,533 tonnes Zn, 1,287 tonnes Cu (or 14.4 M Oz AgEq), at cash cost $17.58 per Oz AgEq and an AISC of $20.93. At Zimapan, in Hidalgo, 822.1 K tonnes were processed in the period, averaging 73 gpt Ag, 2.13% Zn, 0.65% Pb, 0.37% Cu, to produce 1.29 M Oz Ag, 3,923 tonnes Pb, 12,087 tonnes Zn, 1,287 tonnes Cu (or 3.31 M Oz AgEq). Revenue was $278.6 M. and the adjusted EBITDA $11.4 M.
  • Golden Minerals Co. announced that it plans to restart Au-Ag mining operations at its Velardeña properties in Durango, subject to receipt of sufficient capital. The plan envisages starting with four active stopes with processing at Velardeña’s plant flotation facility at 80 tonnes per day (tpd), and reach a steady rate of 325 tpd by the end of the year. “The Company needs to raise additional cash in the very near term, whether through the sale of non-core assets or equity financing, including the use of its ATM program. In the absence of sufficient asset sales, equity financing or other external funding the Company’s cash balance is expected to be depleted early in the third quarter of 2023. If financing or asset sales are not available to us, we could be forced to liquidate our business”.
  • Gatos Silver Inc. reported results for Q1 2023, Q4 2022 and full year 2022. In 2022 the Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua processed 971.6 K tonnes at a daily rate of 2,662 tonnes, averaging 368 gpt Ag, 4.37% Zn, 2,31% Pb, 0.33 gpt Au, recovering 89.8% Ag, 64.8% Zn, 88.7% Pb, 52.0% Au, to produce 10.32 M Oz Ag, 60.7 M Lb Zn, 43.9 M Lb Pb, 5,350 K Oz Au. For Q1 2023, 260.4 K tonnes were milled at 2,894 tpd, averaging 329 gpt Ag, 3.93% Zn, 1.86% Pb, 0.30 gpt Au, recovering 88.3% Ag, 62.2% Zn, 88.6% Pb, 55.3% Au, to produce 2.43 M Oz Ag, 14.0 M Lb Zn, 9.5 M Lb Pb, 1,380 Oz Au. “The Company had a cash balance of $10.5 million and debt outstanding of $9 million related to its credit facility as of May 31, 2023”. The Los Gatos Joint Venture continues to generate cash, with a cash balance of $78.9 M at May 31, 2023.

ON FINANCING

  • Radius Gold Inc. closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement, for gross proceeds od $1.95 M. (Tropico, Zacatecas).
  • Alamos Gold Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.025 per common share. “The Company has paid dividends for 14 consecutive years during which time $304 million has been returned to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, including $20 million thus far in 2023” (Mulatos, Sonora).
  • Luca Mining Corp., formerly Altaley Mining Corp., closed the second tranche of its previously announced private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of $20.75 M. Concurrently, the company also settled a loan in the amount of $3.7 M in consideration of the issuance of shares and a second debt settlement of $4.9 M by also issuing shares. Incentive stock options were issued to directors, officers and employees for a total of 4.4 M shares and a further 250 K options to two marketing and investor relations advisors. “Due to continued strong demand, the Company has determined it will extend its previously announced private placement” to June 30, 2023 (Campo Morado, Guerrero).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Defiance Silver Corp. released results from drilling at the Zacatecas District project in Zacatecas. Highlighted core length results comprise 4.80 m @ 349 gpt Ag, 0.14 gpt Au, 0.14% Pb, 0.35% Zn (including 1.32 m @ 1,264 gpt Ag, 0.52 gpt Au, 0.51% Pb, 1.20% Zn); 4.65 m @ 144 gpt Ag, 0.08 gpt Au, 0.18% Zn (including 0.84 m @ 728 gpt Ag, 0.32 gpt Au, 0.17% Pb, 0.72% Zn); 1.01 m @ 237 gpt Ag, 0.07 gpt Au; 41.83 m @ 157 gpt Ag, 0.07 gpt Au, 0.16% Zn (including 15.96 m @ 380 gpt Ag, 0.15 gpt Au, 0.12% Pb, 0.37% Zn, which includes 1.00 m @ 2,350 gpt Ag, 0.51 gpt Au, 0.77% Pb, 2.78% Zn); 5.52 m @ 144 gpt Ag, 0.11 gpt Au, 0.33% Zn. The holes were testing the Veta Grande structure in or near the San Acacio resource area.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES             

  • Silver Bull Resources Inc. has taken significant steps in its pursuit of compensation regarding the Sierra Mojada project in Coahuila. Under NAFTA rules the company attended a meeting with government officials on its claim of seeking damages resulting from the unlawful blockade at its project, and the government failure to solve it. “The next phase of the process entails the Company filing a Request for Arbitration in mid-June, formally commencing the arbitration proceedings. The claim filed by Silver Bull will be for not less than US$178 million dollars”.
  • Sierra Metals Inc. announced that its meeting materials for its June 28, 2023 annual and special meeting of shareholders will be filed under its directory on the “System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com on Wednesday, June 7, 2023”. The company has received enquiries from shareholders with respect to “certain disclosure in its May 30, 2023 news release announcing the refinancing with its major lenders” and the refinancing agreement (Bolivar, Chihuahua).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • No Relevant News.

On the image below: Epidote lined fracture on igneous rocks of a copper project in the Sonoran Desert. Picture by Jorge Cirett.

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

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Copper mineralization (chrysocolla)

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 16th week of the year (April 17th to April 23th, 2023), at least 17 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 8 news published by the media, with nine commenting on Mexican issues, six communicating production and financial results, four reporting resources and developments of their properties, four disclosing deals and corporate issues, one informing on exploration results, and one announcing financing issues. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Minera Gorrión, a subsidiary of Almaden Minerals, will challenge the cancellation of their concessions in the Municipality of Ixtacamaxtitlan, Puebla. Municipal Presidents (Majors), as representatives of the mining communities of the Chihuahua State, signed and sent a letter to AMLO to request that the Mining Reform initiative be analyzed, since they consider that it will seriously affect employment, health, education, local businesses, and in general, the well-being of the population. The Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (AIMMGM) requested to expand discussion on mining law before submitting its vote in the Senate. The Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, with the rejection of the opposition, started the debate that ended in the approval, in “fast track” of a new Mining Law, at the initiative of the parliamentary group of Morena. According to specialists, the Reform to the Mining Law would affect fundamental rights and international treaties, opening an USMCA panel with Canada. With 290 votes in favor, 186 against and one abstention, Morena and his allies in the Chamber of Deputies got ahead of the opposition and approved in plenary session an alternative initiative to that of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that reforms the Mining Law and other arrangements. Mining companies lose on the Mexican Stock Exchange due to the initiative to reform the Mining Law in Mexico. GoGold and Oroco reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of April 2023. ON EXPLORATION, In Oaxaca, Vortex received community approval for environmental and surface geological surface baseline study at its flagship Zaachila project.  ON MINING, First Majestic, Golden Minerals, Avino, and Guanajuato Silver, reported Q1, 2023 production and financial results from their Mexican mine operations. Fresnillo and MAG Silver shipped their first commercial concentrate from the Juanicipio mine in Zacatecas. Bear Creek reported production and financial results from its Mercedes mine in Sonora for the period April 21, 2022 to December 31, 2022.  ON FINANCING, Endeavour entered into a Commitment Letter for a senior secured debt facility for up to USD $120M (Terronera project, Jalisco). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Oroco announced drilling results from its Santo Tomas project, Sinaloa. GoGold released results from its ongoing drilling program from its Los Ricos South property in Jalisco. Endeavour announced its intentions to proceed with the construction of an underground mine and mill at the Terronera project in Jalisco. Heliostar commenced drilling at its Ana Paula property in Guerrero following the re-scoping plans announced previously. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Chesapeake announced the appointment of its VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations (Metates project, Durango). Riverside appointed a new Director and presented results from its annual meeting of shareholders (La Union project, Sonora).  Canasil signed an option agreement and an exclusivity agreement with Silver Dollar (Nora project, Durango).  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, No relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Minera Gorrión, a subsidiary of Almaden Minerals Ltd., will challenge the resolution of a judge of the second court district in the state of Puebla to cancel their concessions in the Municipality of Ixtacamaxtitlan, Puebla, avoiding developing open-pit mining projects. Minera Gorrión regretted the resolution to cancel its concessions in Puebla, since it does not include any argument that the company provided in its defense. The company said in an statement that  it is important to clarify that, as long as the legal proceedings related to this case continue, the company’s concession title requests remain valid, thus preserving the company and its acquired rights. For more than 20 years, the company has invested more than MXP $900M in exploration, the identification of a mineral deposit, and the planning to develop a modern mining project, which will have a very significant economic impact if authorized. “Minera Gorrión regrets that, in his resolution, the judge does not include any of the arguments that the company provided to defend its case.
  • Municipal Presidents (Majors), as representatives of the mining communities of the Chihuahua State, signed and sent a letter to AMLO to request that the Mining Reform initiative be analyzed before it is approved by the Congress since they consider that it will seriously affect employment, health, education, local businesses, and in general, the well-being of the population.
  • The Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (AIMMGM) requested to expand discussion on the draft Decree for the reform of the Mining Law, the National Water Law, the Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection and the General Law for the Prevention and Integral Management of Waste related to Mining and Water Concessions before submitting its vote in the Senate.
  • The Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, with the rejection of the opposition, started the debate that ended in the approval, in “fast track” of a new Mining Law, at the initiative of the parliamentary group of Morena. Deputy Ignacio Mier Velazco, coordinator of the Morena Parliamentary Group said that “for the first time it is regulated, transparency is given, the people of Mexico are given certainty, the environment is protected and the water is taken care of”. However, during the discussion in general, the opposition showed their rejection of the approval of this law, for not listening to the voices of indigenous people, peasants, or defenders of the environment. The deputy Laura Patricia Contreras Duarte (PAN), assured that the initiatives proposed by the President of the Republic are nothing more than “whims”.
  • According to specialists, the Reform to the Mining Law would affect fundamental rights and international treaties, opening an USMCA panel with Canada. The mining and water reform initiative, which is under discussion in Congress, has generated concern in various sectors due to the possible violations of fundamental rights that its entry into force could imply, said lawyers who are experts in the matter. One of the aspects that have been the subject of criticism is the elimination of requests for processing of new concessions that are pending resolution.  The initiative is a very serious impact on foreign direct investment, since it generates great discontent in the foreign mining sector, especially Canada, which belongs to the USMCA. As a result of this, it is very likely that a dispute resolution panel will be initiated because it is a clear violation of Mexico’s obligations in the protection of foreign investment, noting that Canadian investment is very large in Mexico, so it is a direct affectation to their interests.
  • With 290 votes in favor, 186 against and one abstention, Morena and his allies in the Chamber of Deputies got ahead of the opposition and approved in plenary session an alternative initiative to that of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that reforms the Mining Law and other arrangements. The proposal -voted only in general and which is still being discussed in particular- reduces the validity of mining concessions from 50 to 30 years, with the possibility of extending them for another 25 years and at the end of that term, in case of participating in the new tender of the same lot, the holder would have preference for another 25 non-extendable years. In what the opposition described as an “albazo”, the parliamentary majority of Morena resumed the presidential initiative on the matter and presented it as its own initiative to discuss and vote on it on “fast-track”. It also conditions the mining concession to water availability and, where appropriate, to the mining water concession previously obtained, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution in this matter, which gives priority to the human and domestic use of water. The obligation of the concessionaires to carry out the efficient use and reuse of water and, where appropriate, the restoration of the water resource is established. In its reform proposal, the Federal Executive proposed that the concession only be granted for mineral or substance susceptible to exploitation, which will allow, in its opinion, greater control and generation of resources for the State and the affected communities. In another aspect, the federal government establishes in its proposal that acts of private law are not recognized for the transfer of the mining concession, so that the Ministry of Economy may authorize the transfer only when the requirements requested for the original concession are met. That is, the concession will not serve to guarantee the obligations of the concession holder. On this, the initiative of the Morena legislators establishes that the transmission and guarantee of mining concessions will be carried out with the authorization of the General Directorate of Mines of the Ministry of Economy, as long as it is verified that the transmission is between two mining companies, in order to avoid speculation. In the case of the guarantee, when it is a company that is in operation. In order to regulate and avoid predatory, harmful mining activities that are contrary to the right to water, a healthy environment, people’s health and, in general, the rights of the towns and communities where said projects are carried out, the initiative of the Executive proposes presenting a social impact study and a Restoration, Closing and Post-closing Program. Likewise, it requires a Mine Closure Plan, the presentation of letters of credit to guarantee compliance with the mitigation and restoration obligations and a Waste Management Program. The initiative of the legislators considers the instrument of a letter of credit to guarantee the Mine Closure Plan.
  • Mining companies lose on the Mexican Stock Exchange due to the initiative to reform the Mining Law in Mexico. Grupo México, the main copper producer worldwide, fell 1.73%, to MXP $91.43 pesos per share, and Industrias Peñoles, the largest silver producer, lost 1.49%, to MXP $279.29 per share. The miners are concerned about the possible negative effects on their profitability and the economic impact on the country, since the proposal implies higher costs for them and a shorter time to recover the expenses,” said José María de las Rivas, Analyst at Intercam Bank.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., and Oroco Resources Corp., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of April, 2023. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Vortex Metals Inc., received community approval for environmental and surface geological surface baseline study at its flagship Zaachila project in Oaxaca. The environmental study will be carried out by a group of 10 environmental specialists and will involve a total area of 500 hectares. The company also will conduct geological mapping, sampling, and trenching on the property.

ON MINING

  • First Majestic Silver Corp., reported Q1, 2023 production and financial results from their Mexican operations. Production figures by mine operation is shown in the table below:

The Company is planning to release its Q1, 2023 unaudited financial results on May 4, 2023.

  • Golden Minerals Company announced Q1, 2023 production figures from its Rodeo project in Durango. The company mined 154,371 tonnes, stockpiled 18,467 tonnes awaiting process, stockpiled 133,349 tonnes of low grade, and processed 54,272 tonnes of 1.6 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 72.6% and 75.5% respectively, to produce 2,081 Oz of payable Au and 11,535 Oz Ag (2,219 Oz AuEq). The average realized price before refining and selling cost was USD $1,891.24 for Oz Au and USD $22.60 for Oz Ag.
  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., reported Q1, 2023 production and financial results from its Avino mine in Durango. The company milled 159,757 tonnes of 51g/t Ag, 0.58 g/t Au, and 0.47% Cu with metallurgical recoveries of 89%, 77%, and 84% respectively to produce 234.3K Oz Ag, 2,286 Oz Au, and 1.4M Lb Cu (or 678.2K Oz AgEq).
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., announced Q1, 2023 consolidated production figures from their Mexican operations in Durango (Topia) and Guanajuato (El Cubo, Valenciana, and San Ignacio). The company mined 162,116 tonnes and milled 160,182 tonnes to produce 458.8K Oz Ag, 4,413 Oz Au, 906.7K Lb Pb, and 1.1M Lb Zn (938K Oz AgEq), with metallurgical recoveries of 83.9%, 81.1%, 87.1%, and 83.5% respectively.
  • Fresnillo plc (56%) and MAG Silver Corp. (44%), shipped their first lead-zinc commercial concentrate from the Juanicipio mine in Zacatecas. During March 2023, milling rates were around 60% of design, delivering an average of 2,476 tonnes per day with rates periodically reaching up to 3,900 tonnes per day. Current mill feed is a combination of mineralized material from underground stopes and lower grade stockpiles. Over the course of March 2023, lower grade commissioning material was processed with recovery rates averaging 84% for Ag, slightly above expectations at this stage of the commissioning.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation reported production and financial results from its Mercedes mine in Sonora for the period April 21, 2022 to December 31, 2022. The company mined 337,108 tonnes and processed 412,457 tonnes of 3.02 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag to produce 34,628 Oz Au and 8,489 Oz Ag at cash and all-in-sustaining cost of USD $1,193 and USD $1,627 per Oz Au sold and streamed respectively. The company reported revenues of USD $61M .

ON FINANCING

  • Endeavour Silver Corp., entered into a Commitment Letter with Societe Generale and ING Bank N.V. for a senior secured debt facility for up to USD $120M to proceed with the construction of an underground mine and mill at its Terronera property in Jalisco.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Oroco Resource Corp., announced drilling results from its Santo Tomas project, Sinaloa. Drilling highlights include hole NO-44 with 0.83% Cu, 0.011% Mo, and 0.072 g/t Au (0.93% CuEq) over 352.5m (best hole drilled on the project to date); and hole NO-45 with 0.44% Cu, 0.011% Mo, and 0.035 g/t Au (0.50% CuEq) over 329.8m. The company has now completed its North Zone drill program in support of the planned Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
  • GoGold Resources Inc., released results from the ongoing drilling program at Eagle Area within its Los Ricos South property in Jalisco. Drilling highlights include hole LRGAG-22-134 with 1.13 g/t Au, 69 g/t Ag (2.05 g/t AuEq or 154 g/t AgEq) over 36.9m, including 2.28 g/t Au and 134 g/t Ag (4.06 g/t AuEq or 305 g/t AgEq) over 16.5m, including 8.55 g/t Au and 824 g/t Ag (19.53 g/t AuEq or 1,465 g/t AgEq) over 1.3m; hole LRGAG-22-136 with 1.03 g/t Au and 65 g/t Ag (1.9 g/t AuEq or 142 g/t AgEq) over 53m, including 2.16 g/t Au and 56 g/t Ag (2.9 g/t AuEq or 218 g/t AgEq) over 20.2m, including 9.54 g/t Au and 490 g/t Ag (16.07 g/t AuEq or 1,205 g/t AgEq) over 0.7m; hole LRGAG-22-138 with 3.06 g/t Au and 193 g/t Ag (5.64 g/t AuEq or 423 g/t AgEq) over 27.3m, including 15.64 g/t Au and 908 g/t Ag (27.74 g/t AuEq or 2,081 g/t AgEq) over 1.4m, including 5.43 g/t Au and 563 g/t Ag (12.94 g/t AuEq or 970 g/t AgEq) over 1m; hole LRGAG-22-141 with 3.82 g/t Au and 114 g/t Ag (5.34 g/t AuEq or 400 g/t AgEq) over 28.4m, including 43.30 g/t Au and 99 g/t Ag (44.62 g/t AuEq or 3,346 g/t AgEq) over 0.9m, plus 2.10 g/t Au and 189 g/t Ag (4.61 g/t AuEq or 346 g/t AgEq) over 11.4m, including 9.43 g/t Au and 710 g/t Ag (18.89 g/t AuEq or 1,417 g/t AgEq) over 1.3m; and hole LRGAG-22-145 with 1.94 g/t Au and 272 g/t Ag (5.56 g/t AuEq or 417 g/t AgEq) over 42.2m, including 3.7 g/t Au and 700 g/t Ag (13.03 g/t AuEq or 977 g/t AgEq) over 14.1m, including 16.15 g/t Au and 5,740 g/t Ag (92.68 g/t AuEq or 6,951 g/t AgEq) over 0.5m. “These holes, combined with additional drilling in the Los Ricos South Main area, should add value to the upcoming updated Los Ricos South Mineral Resource and Preliminary Economic Assessment”.
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., announced its intentions to proceed with the construction of an underground mine and mill at the Terronera project in Jalisco. It will consists of a process plant with 2,000 tonne per day capacity and an initial capital expenditure cost of USD $230M, partially offset by a decrease in sustaining capital to USD $88.3M over the life of the mine.  The company expects a 21-month construction period, including 3 to 6 months ramp up to full production with initial production expected in Q4, 2024.
  • Heliostar Metals Limited commenced drilling at its Ana Paula property in Guerrero following the re-scoping plans announced previously. The program will consist of 3,000 – 3,600m of drilling in 16 – 24 drill holes, to increase the size and grade of the resource and reserve, provide the geotechnical information required to complete underground mine planning, and provide metallurgical samples testwork designed to improve gold recovery and simplify the mill flow sheet.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Chesapeake Gold Corp., announced the appointment of its VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, effective May 29, 2023 (Metates project, Durango).
  • Riverside Resources Inc., appointed a new Independent Director and presented results from its annual meeting of shareholders (La Union project, Sonora).
  • Canasil Resources Inc signed an option agreement and an exclusivity agreement with Silver Dollar Resources Inc. Pursuant to the agreements, Silver Dollar will provide Canasil with a USD $200K non-interest-bearing loan in return for a two-month exclusivity period to conduct due diligence on the assets of Canasil and an option to earn a 100% interest in Canasil’s Nora property in Durango. Under the terms of the Nora Option, Silver Dollar can earn a 100% interest in the Property by incurring total exploration expenditures of USD $3M and making cash payments totaling USD $375K over five years. Upon earning a 100% interest in the Property, Silver Dollar will grant Canasil a 3% net smelter returns royalty ,with Silver Dollar having the right to buy back 1% of the royalty for USD $3M. After granting the royalty, Silver Dollar will also pay an annual royalty of USD $25K which will be offset against the 1% royalty buyback.

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 mineralization (chrysocolla) in a prospect in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Fifth Week of March 2023

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By Jorge Cirett                                             

During the 13th week of the year (March 27th to April 2nd, 2023), 18 companies working in Mexico released news on their properties. Two companies informed on exploration on their properties, three companies informed on Q4 and year 2022 financial and operational results. Two companies closed partial or complete share placements. Two companies filed technical reports on their properties, two more released drilling results on their advanced properties and two more updated mineral resource estimates for their properties. Two companies announced the completion of the acquisition process on mining projects. ON MEXICO ISSUES, the Mexican president sent an initiative to change the Mining Law that is likely to strongly impact the mineral exploration industry. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Tocvan Ventures provided an update on bulk sampling at its Pilar property; Reyna Gold is to drill its La Gloria project. ON MINING, Mag Silver, Sierra Metals and Avino Silver released Q4 2022 financial reports. ON FINANCING, Silver Spruce closed a private placement for $1.13 M, Golden Tag closed the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement. ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Alamos Gold and Sonoro Gold filed NI-43-101 technical reports on the Mulatos and Cerro Caliche properties respectively, both in Sonora. GoGold Resources released drilling results from Los Ricos South project in Jalisco. Oroco Resource informed on drilling at the Santo Tomás project in Sinaloa. Argonaut Gold updated on mineral resources at five of its properties in Mexico. Aura Minerals reported on mineral reserves and resources at Aranzazu, in Zacatecas. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Argonaut Gold completed the sale of the Ana Paula project in Guerrero to Heliostar Metals. Sierra Metals completed the acquisition of La Guitarra project, in Estado de Mexico, from First Majestic Silver. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUES

  • The president of México, Andrés M. López Obrador sent to Congress an initiative to reform the Mining Law, National Water Law, Ecological Equilibrium Law and Environmental Protection and the General Law for Prevention and Integral Management of Residues relating to Mining and Water Concessions. The initiative displays a heavy ideological charge on the exposition of motifs, full of propaganda epithets against the “neoliberal” current state of affairs on these matters. Any good specific proposal within the initiative is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new rules designed for the State to have a firm grip on the industry, many of which involve granting the government power to decide when to take away a concession on flimsy grounds, raising the uncertainty level for mining investment in Mexico. Some takeaway points that drastically change how the mining industry is operating in Mexico include: The government is to perform auctions for mining concessions (no more staking). Mining activities are no longer considered to have priority over other land uses. No land expropriation on mining grounds. Social impact studies to be conducted before any exploration takes place. Public consultations with “towns”, indigenous (which by the way are auto ascribed) and afro-Mexican communities. Reduction of mining concessions rights from 50 to 15 years, that could be renewed only once (more than a few operations in Mexico have been continuous for far longer periods). Mining concessions are conditioned to water “availability” (yes, the government decides, unconstrained, when there is available water, anytime). No private transmission of mining concessions without government consent (again, absolute power to the government). Added cancellation causes include lack of report in possible harm or risks to ecological equilibrium, lack of permits, concessions or authorizations from other authorities and lack of closing programs or management of residues. The only way to obtain a concession is to be by government auction (Concurso). Limits mining concessions coverage to only one element (you have to wonder on the genius that came with this proposal). The list continues, but in a first pass reading those above come as the most likely to cause an exodus of investment in mining exploration in Mexico. Mines are to continue operating, and advanced properties are likely to continue to development, but the Mexican exploration industry is about to halt when this initiative is approved, as the government has the required number of votes secured in Congress. Dialogue between industry entities and the government should take place before this initiative is voted, because better alternatives should be sought in order to achieve a better operating mining industry. Alternative options agreed upon should both improve the effect of mining operations in communities and the environment while promoting investment, thus helping Mexico’s development as a whole.         

ON EXPLORATION

  • Tocvan Ventures Corp. provided a progress update on the first bulk sample at the Pilar project in Sonora. Over 1,200 tonnes of material have been stockpiled with the first shipments completed. Four head-grade samples averaged 6.2, 7.6, 1.3 and 7.6 gpt Au. “Diagnostic leach tests are ongoing and were collected from four trench areas and one select drill core coarse reject sample. Preliminary results from the study suggest free gold is present in the samples and has been confirmed visually by testing sieved…. Up to 1,000 tonnes of oxide-gold material will be extracted from select areas….. The information provided from the sample will be used for planning in coordination for permitting of full-scale mine and process facilities on-site at Pilar”.
  • Reyna Gold Corp. announced the mobilization to recommence a minimum of 5,500 m of diamond drilling at its 24,215 ha La Gloria property in Sonora. The program is focused on four targets: La Republicana, Western, Las Carmelitas and Main Zone. At La Republicana drilling “will test extensions to the La Republicana Main Vein, which produced 59.00m of 1.45 g/t Gold in Phase 1 drilling”, on the 1 km long vein with significant anomalies delineated by an induced polarization survey. At Western, abundant quartz veining with Au-Te high-grades are to be tested. At Las Carmelitas high Cu, Ag, Sb assays have been obtained in a large conglomerate/agglomerate system. At the Main Zone, follow-up is to test on phase-1 drilling that returned 5.5 m @ 935 gpt Ag; 7.85 m @ 3.94 gpt Au; 30.60 m @ 0.51 gpt Au.

ON MINING

  • Mag Silver Corp. announced consolidated financial results for 2022. Commissioning of the Juanicipio plant in Zacatecas commenced in early January 2023, after the entire system was connected to the national power grid in late December 2022. During the year 646.1 K tonnes were processed thorough the Fresnillo and Saucito plants, producing 8.7 M Oz Ag, 20,268 Oz Au, 4,487 tonnes Pb, 6,758 tonnes Zn, netting $132.8 M in gross profit by Juanicipio (56% Fresnillo PLC, 44% Mag Silver).  At the end of 2022 Mag Silver had 29.2 M of working capital, with no long-term debt. The company closed a $42.6 M bought deal public offering on February 2023.
  • Sierra Metals Inc. presented Q4 and year-end 2022 consolidated financial results. The company has operations in Chihuahua and Peru, but no production details by unit were presented. Sierra Metals obtained $46.2 M in revenue during the year, with an adjusted EBITDA of $13 M, a net loss of $88.3 M. The company had cash and cash equivalents of $5.1 M and negative working capital of $84.4 M. For 2023 the production guidance at Bolivar, in Chihuahua, envisions a production of 34.5 – 39.5 M Lb CuEq at cash cost $2.99 per Lb CuEq and an AISC of $5.07 per Lb CuEq. At Cusi, in Chihuahua, an undisclosed amount of silver ounces was produced at cash cost $16.77 per Oz AgEq and an AISC of $23.17 per Oz AgEq.
  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. released consolidated financial results for Q4 and year-end 2022. During the year, the Avino mine in Durango milled 541.8 K tonnes to produce 985 K Oz Ag, 5,778 Oz Au, 6.5 M Lb Cu (or 2.65 M Oz AgEq), at cash cost $10.34 per Oz AgEq and an AISC of $17.91 per Oz AgEq. In the year the company had revenue of $44.2 M, ending the period with a $11.2 M cash balance and $8.8 M in working capital.

ON FINANCING

  • Silver Spruce Resources Inc. closed a private placement for $1.13 M in proceeds (Diamante, Sonora).
  • Golden Tag Resources Ltd. closed the first tranche of the previously announced non-brokered private placement, aiming to raise $5.7 M in aggregate gross proceeds (Don Diego and La Parrilla, Durango).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Alamos Gold Inc. announced the filing of a NI43-101 compliant technical report for its Mulatos property in Sonora.
  • Sonoro Gold Corp. reported the filing of a NI-43-101 compliant technical report on the mineral resource estimate at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora. The report includes indicated resources of 19.9 M tonnes @ 0.44 gpt Au, 3.5 gpt Ag, containing 280 K Oz Au, 2.2 M Oz Ag, and inferred resources of 10.5 M tonnes @ 0.42 gpt Au, 4 gpt Ag, containing 140 K Oz Au, 1.3 M Oz Ag. The resources are amenable to a combination of open pit and heap leach extraction.
  • GoGold Resources Inc. announced drilling results from the Eagle and Main deposits at its Los Ricos South project in Jalisco. Highlighted core length intervals comprise 23.3 m @ 7.07 gpt Au, 86 gpt Ag (including 2.7 m @ 45.01 gpt Au, 106 gpt Ag); 39.9 m @ 1.28 gpt Au, 87 gpt Ag; 16.3 m @ 1.09 gpt Au, 28 gpt Ag; 18.2 m @ 1.72 gpt Au, 118 gpt Ag; 13.9 m @ 3.63 gpt Au, 144 gpt Ag. “The purpose of the program is to better define the very high-grade portions of the current deposit that may be amenable to bulk underground mining. The Company is carrying out a trade-off study to better define what portion of the deposit could be mined in a lower strip ratio pit and what portion would best be mined in more selective bulk underground mining”.
  • Oroco Resource Corp. released results from drilling at the South Zone of the Santo Tomás project in Sinaloa. Highlighted core length intervals estimated to be within 10% of true width comprise 221.7 m @ 0.023 gpt Au, 2 gpt Ag, 0.37% Cu; 145.0 m @ 0.008 gpt Au, 2 gpt Ag, 0.25% Cu; 89.0 m @ 0.011 gpt Au, 2 gpt Ag, 0.31% Cu (including 25.0 m @ 0.020 gpt Au, 4 gpt Ag, 0.74% Cu); 81.0 m @ 0.011 gpt Au, 1 gpt Ag, 0.20% Cu. “Historical drilling, surface geological mapping, and the Dias Geo 3D Induced Polarization survey have defined near-surface mineralization projected to 400 m below the surface along 2,000 m of strike length in the South Zone”.
  • Argonaut Gold Inc. updated its mineral resources to the end of 2022, including figures from its Mexican properties. The following table shows the resources on its Mexican properties, which at the end of 2022 comprised proven and probable reserves of 2.3 M Oz Au, 51.7 M Oz Ag, 86 K tonnes Cu, 5.6 M Oz Au, 94.9 Oz Ag, 187 K tonnes Cu in measures and indicated resources and 603 K Oz Au, 17.1 M Oz Ag, 5 K tonnes Cu in inferred resources.
  • Aura Minerals Inc. reported updated mineral reserves and resources for its operating mines, including from its Aranzazu mine in Zacatecas, to the end of 2022. Proven and probable mineral reserves stand at 9.6 M tonnes @ 0.81 gpt Au, 17.61 gpt Ag, 1.23% Cu, containing 249 K Oz Au, 5 M Oz Ag, 259 M Lb Cu. Measured and indicated resources comprise 15.1 M tonnes @ 0.97 gpt Au, 21.15 gpt Ag, 1.44% Cu, containing 471 K Oz Au, 10.4 M Oz Ag, 477.3 M Lb Cu. Inferred resources stood at 4.3 M tonnes @ 0.55 gpt Au, 16.37 gpt Ag, 1.04% Cu, containing 76 K Oz Au, 2.3 M Oz Ag, 99 M Lb Cu.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES             

  • Argonaut Gold Inc. announced the completion of the sale of the Ana Paula project in Guerrero to Heliostar Metals Ltd. The deal involved US$10 M in cash upon closing and US$20 M in deferred cash and share considerations. The project has 1 M Oz Au @ 2.36 gpt Au in proven and probable mineral reserves, is permitted for an open pit and potential for underground mining, with 142,000 m of drilling in 333 holes.
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd. announced the completion of the acquisition of the La Guitarra property in Estado de Mexico. Sierra Madre issued to First Majestic Silver Corp. 69 M shares for it to maintain a 19.9% interest on Sierra Madre, shares that are to be released by an escrow on four equal installments between September 2023 and March 2025. The company opened a brokered private placement on September 2022, intending to raise up to $10 M. The common shares are halted from trading, and are expected to resume trading following the closing of the common share offering.  

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines received for the first time in 2022 the ESR (Empresa socialmente responsible) award “granted by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (El Centro Mexicano para la Filantropia or Cemefi, and the Alliance for Corporate Social Responsibility (Alianza por la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial or (AliaRSE))”.

On the image below: Porphyritic felsic dike on a project in the Sonoran Desert. Picture by Jorge Cirett.