Quartz veins hosted in volcanic rocks

By Miguel A Heredia

During the thirty one week of the year (July 27^th to August 2^nd, 2020), at least 50 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with thirteen announcing financial rounds, eight communicating production and financial results, seven disclosing deals and corporate issues, six commenting on Mexican issues, six discussing social issues, five informing on exploration results, and five reporting on resources and developments. ON MEXICO ISSUES, Xavier Garcia de Quevedo, VP of Grupo Mexico, stated that the investment in the Mexican mining industry has decreased 36% between 2018 and 2019 and 68% in the last seven years. The research firm Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) stated that sustainability initiatives will boost financing for the mining sector. The dispute between the Tax Administration Service (SAT) and the Canadian mining company First Majestic is rapidly escalating to other levels. According to the Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico is the 9th world gold producer. Gold price exceeded USD $ 1,981.27 per Oz last Tuesday 28, 2020, reaching an all-time high. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Canuc recommenced exploration at its San Javier project, and Silver Spruce announced that its Phase 1 ground exploration program on the El Mezquite Au Project will be activated during the first week of August 2020.  In Sinaloa, Vizsla added a fourth drill rig at its Panuco project. In Durango, Mithril commenced a 5,000m drilling program at its Copalquin project.  ON MINING, Capstone, Coeur, Consolidated Zinc, Fresnillo, Newmont, and Starcore reported production and financial results from their Mexican operations. Sierra Metals announced restart of production at its Cusi mine in Chihuahua.  ON FINANCING, Advance Gold closed its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of $720K (Tabasquena project, in Zacatecas).  Aztec Minerals closed the final tranche of its private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $955K (Cervantes project in Sonora). Golden Tag announced a non-brokered private placement financing led by Eric Sprott for aggregate proceeds of $5.6M (San Diego property in Durango). Impact Silver pronounced a brokered private placement financing for CAD $6M (Zacualpan Mining District in Mexico State). Kootenay announced a private placement financing for $5M (Columba project in Chihuahua). Silver Tiger closed a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $11M (El Tigre project in Sonora). Southern Silver reported a brokered offering of subscription receipts for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD $10M, and announced an additional CAD $4M equity raise (Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango). Stroud completed a non-brokered private placement financing for gross proceeds of $3M (Santo Domingo property in Jalisco).  Sonoro Metals announced that it increased its non-brokered private placement financing for up to $5M with the potential to add up to $3M of additional proceeds under the overallotment option. Gold Resource declared July monthly dividend to their shareholders (Arista mine in Oaxaca). Mag Silver signed an at the market offering sales agreement of common shares for gross proceed of up to USD $50M (Juanicipio project in Zacatecas). Candente applied to TSX for approval to extend the exercise period of 5M outstanding share purchase warrants issued pursuant to the private placement completed on August 12, 2016. (El Oro property in Mexico State). Monarca Minerals announced that it is proposing to settle an aggregate of approximately $380.6K owing to certain officers and directors and services providers through the issuance of an aggregate of approximately 7,612,000 common shares at an issue price of CAD $0.05 (Tejamen project in Durango).   ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Alamos Gold reported results of a positive internal economic study and announced construction decision on its fully permitted La Yaqui Grande project located in the Mulatos mining district. GoGold announced initial mineral resource estimate at its Los Ricos project in Jalisco, and updated the mineral reserve at the Parral Tailings operation, and the mineral resource estimate at its Esmeralda Tailings project located near Parral, Chihuahua. Consolidated Zinc advised that the environmental authority of Mexico has granted their approval for refurbishment of its Plomosas plant and construction and operation of the tailings storage facility. Ridgestone entered into a toll milling agreement to process bulk samples from historic dumps of the Alaska vein at its Rebeico project in Sonora.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Brigadier announced the appointment of its new special adviser (Picachos project in Sinaloa). Santacruz signed an option agreement with Grupo Peñoles to acquire the Zimapan property and related assets located in Zimapan, Hidalgo for a total consideration of USD $20M. Minera Alamos hired new VP project development and appointed new COO (Santana project in Sonora). Consolidated Zinc presented results from its annual general meeting of shareholders, and advised that a new constitution was approved and adopted by shareholders (Plomosas mine in Chihuahua). Candente launched the “CEO Verified” Discussion Forum on AGORACOM (El Oro property in Mexico State). Telson provided an update on filing annual 2019 audited and Q1, 2020 financial statements (Tahuehueto project in Durango).  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, The Municipal Water and Sanitation Board of Chihuahua (JMAS) is extracting water from the Esmeralda and Arbolito mines to feed a dam in Parral Chihuahua. Minera Peñasquito supplies water to 5 thousand people of the communities of Cedros, Mesas, Charcos, Nuevo Peñasco and Palmas. Minera Saucito, a subsidiary of Fresnillo plc, received international certification for its commitment to the health and safety of its collaborators. Minera Penmont (Fresnillo plc), implemented a health model for the safety of its workers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic (La Herradura mine in Sonora). Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán (Fortuna Silver) dissociated itself from the alleged environmental incident and reiterated its commitment to the communities in which it operates (San Jose mine, Oaxaca).

ON MEXICO ISSUES

• Xavier Garcia de Quevedo, VP of Grupo Mexico, stated that the investment in the Mexican mining industry has decreased 36% between 2018 and 2019 and 68% in the last seven years, leading the country to fall in the international ranking of investment destination from position 5 to 29.
• The research firm Americas Market Intelligence (AMI), concluded that sustainability initiatives will boost financing for the mining sector. This would represent an opportunity to transform the industry and create new business models in a more economic capital cycle.
• The dispute between the Tax Administration Service (SAT) and the Canadian mining company First Majestic is rapidly escalating to other levels. The Attorney General’s Office, Carlos Romero Aranda, warned the taxpayer that it failed to accumulate the real income derived from the sale of silver to its related party Silver Trading Barbados Limited. First Majestic draws disputes with the SAT since the last administration because it is questioned what it paid as a result of the purchase of Primero Mining, owner of the San Dimas silver mine, in Durango. The mining company filed a lawsuit against Mexico in May under the Free Trade Agreement, prompting Andrés Manuel López Obrador to ask the Canadian government to enter into conciliation. But what is unheard of is that while the President asks his counterpart Justin Trudeau to sensitize First Majestic to pay about $ 180 million, there is already a tax lawsuit.
• According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico is the 9th world gold producer. In 2019 the country produced 2.4M Oz Au with a value of approximately USD $2.87B.
• Gold price exceeded USD $ 1,981.27 per Oz last Tuesday 28, 2020, reaching an all-time high. Investors bet on the precious metal, considered as a safe value amid uncertainty by the tensions between the United States and China and the recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic. This move is common among investors to protect themselves from risk when markets fall.

ON EXPLORATION

• Canuc Resources Corporation, recommenced exploration at its San Javier project in Sonora. The company announced that it has initiated a geological mapping and systematic sampling program along the 3Km structural corridor of the San Javier Ag-Au project. Focus of the program is to locate and evaluate large scale breccia zones, particularly those that occur at the intersection of known veins and crosscutting fault structures.
• Silver Spruce Resources Inc., announced that its Phase 1 ground exploration program on the El Mezquite Au Project will be activated during the first week of August 2020. Silver Spruce plans to conduct geological mapping on the entire property and additional rock sampling. It also will use the Terraspec hyperspectral tool for definition of alteration intensity of silicate, carbonate and hydrous oxide species. The mapping also will document any structural data which may be correlated with the known geophysical trends, and applied to the interpretation of the property-wide mapping. In addition, the company also will initiate scheduling for the requisite environmental permitting for drilling access and pads.
• Vizsla Resources Corp., added a fourth drill rig at its Panuco project in Sinaloa, to test new targets on the Napoleon, Cordon del Oro and Animas vein corridors.
• Mithril Resources Limited commenced a fully funded 5,000m drilling program at its Copalquin project which is expected to run until the end of 2020. This program has already started at the high-grade Au-Ag La Soledad-Refugio-Cometa targets, and will move to other targets such as Los Pinos, Los Reyes, and San Manuel-La Constancia.

ON MINING

• Capstone Mining Corp., reported production results from its Cozamin mine in Zacatecas for the period Q2, 2020. The company produced 8.3M Lb Cu at a cash cost of $0.98 per Lb.
• Coeur Mining Inc., released Q2, 2020 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. The company processed 269,641 tonnes of 2.18 g/t Au and 139 g/t Ag, with metallurgical recoveries of 86% and 72.2% respectively, to produce 15.2K Oz Au and 867K Oz Ag. Costs applicable to sales were USD $686 and $8.13 per Oz Au and Ag respectively.
• Consolidated Zinc Ltd., mined 2,575 tonnes of 16.6% Zn, 9.5% Pb, and 66 g/t Ag and processed 2,201 tons of 16.6% Zn, 9.2% Pb, and 64 g/t Ag to produce 515.9K Lb Zn, 185.2K Lb Pb, and 30 Oz Ag, at a cash cost of $0.84 per Lb Zn. The company sold in this quarter 541 tonnes of Zn concentrate and 201 tonnes of Pb concentrate.
• Fresnillo plc., announced production results from their Mexican operations for the period Hi, 2020. At Fresnillo mine, Zacatecas, the company processed 1,194,905 tonnes of 0.72 g/t Au, 196 g/t Ag, 1.14% Pb, and 2.12% Zn to produce 19.7K Oz Au, 6.8M Oz Ag, 25.3M Lb Pb, and 39.1M Lb Zn. At Saucito mine in Zacatecas, it processed 1,385,385 tonnes of 1.21 g/t Au, 210 g/t Ag, 1.02% Pb, and 1.84% Zn to produce 41.6K Oz Au, 8.14M Oz, 26.4M Lb Pb, and 39.12M Lb Zn. At Pyrites Plant in Zacatecas, the company processed 80,502 tonnes of 2.11 g/t Au and 252 g/t Ag to produce 1,795 Oz Au and 505K Oz Ag. At Cienega in Durango, it processed 657,893 tonnes of 1.65 g/t Au, 163 g/t Ag, 0.75% Pb, and 1.24% Zn to produce 32.4K Oz Au, 2.97M Oz Ag, 7.14M Lb Pb, and 10.8M Lb Zn. At San Julian Veins in Chihuahua-Durango border, the company processed 621,973 tonnes of 1.58 g/t Au and 115g/t Ag to produce 30.2K Oz Au and 2.1M Oz Ag while at San Julian Disseminated Ore Body, it processed 1,101,489 tonnes of 0.08 g/t Au, 137 g/t Ag, 0.39% Pb, and 1.1% Zn to produce 1,293 Oz Au, 4.15M Oz Ag, 7.5M Lb Pb, and 19.8M Lb Zn. At Herradura mine in Sonora. 8,130,282 tonnes of 0.82 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag were processed to produce 205.7K Oz Au and 824K Oz Ag. At Noche Buena mine in Sonora, the company processed 3,330,054 tonnes of 0.54 g/t Au and 0.4 g/t Ag to produce 48.7K Oz Au and 19K Oz Ag. Consolidated results of the company were 383.3K Oz Au, 26.8M Oz Ag (including 1.3M Oz silverstream), 66.3M Lb Pb, and 108.9M Lb Zn. Total revenues of USD $ 1,054.2M, adjusted revenues of USD $1,125.1M, cost of sales of USD $733M, exploration expenses of USD $50.7M, and EBIDTA of USD $469.9M, and a profit for the period of USD $56.5M.
• Newmont Corporation reported that 510K Oz Au, 28M Oz Ag, 190M Lb Pb, and 360M Lb Zn (880 Oz AuEq) were produced at its Peñasquito mine in Zacatecas during Q2, 2020, at cash cost and AISC of $565 and $770 per Oz Au produced respectively.
• Starcore International Mines Ltd., released year end 2020 results from its San Martin mine in Queretaro. The company processed 229,800 tonnes of 1.82 g/t Au and 30.5 g/t Ag with metallurgical grades of 87.7% and 54.4% respectively, to produce 11.8K Oz Au and 121.8K Oz Ag (13-1K Oz AuEq) at cash and AISC of USD $66 and USD $1,149 per tonne milled respectively.
• Sierra Metals Inc., announced restart of production at its Cusi mine in Chihuahua since it had remained in care and maintenance since April 1, 2020, due to the government-mandated shutdown to contain the advancement of COVID-19.

ON FINANCING

• Advance Gold Corp closed its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of $720K. Net proceed will be used for drilling its Tabasquena project in Zacatecas, as well as for general corporate purposes.
• Aztec Minerals Corp., closed the final tranche of its private placement equity financing for gross proceeds of CAD $955K. Part of the net proceeds will be used to conduct exploration work on its Cervantes project in Sonora, and for general working capital purposes.
• Golden Tag Resources Ltd., announced a non-brokered private placement financing led by Eric Sprott for aggregate proceeds of $5.6M. The offering is subject to an over-allotment option allowing Golden Tag to increase it to $7M, if fully exercised. Net proceeds will be used to fund advancement of its San Diego project in Durango, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
• Impact Silver Corp., pronounced a brokered private placement financing for CAD $6M (Zacualpan Mining District, Mexico State). Net proceeds will be used for exploration, development and general corporate purposes.
• Kootenay Silver Inc., announced a private placement financing for gross proceeds of $5M. Net proceeds will be used for working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes (Columba and Copalito projects in Chihuahua and Sinaloa states respectively).
• Silver Tiger Metals Inc., closed a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $11M, including $4M from Eric Sprott. Net proceeds will be used to continue exploration work on its El Tigre project in Sonora, and for general working capital purposes.
• Southern Silver Exploration Corp., reported a brokered offering of subscription receipts for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD $10M, and announced an additional CAD $4M equity raise. Net proceeds will be used to acquire an additional 60% indirect working interest (for a 100% indirect ownership) in the company’s flagship Cerro Las Minitas in Durango, and for general working capital purposes.
• Stroud Resources Ltd., completed a non-brokered private placement financing for gross proceeds of $3M. Net proceeds will be used to advance the company´s exploration properties located in Mexico and for general working capital purposes (Santo Domingo project in Jalisco).
• Sonoro Metals Corp., announced that it increased its non-brokered private placement financing for up to $5M with the potential to add up to $3M of additional proceeds under the overallotment option. Net proceeds will be used principally to fund company´s previously announced exploration and development plans at its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora and project property maintenance payments, and secondarily for corporate and general administrative expenses.
• Gold Resource Corporation, declared July monthly dividend of one third of a cent per common share to their shareholders (Arista mine in Oaxaca).
• Mag Silver Corp., signed an at the market offering sales agreement of common shares for gross proceed of up to USD $50M (Juanicipio project in Zacatecas). Net proceeds will be primarily used to fund the completion of construction at its Juanicipio project in Zacatecas, with any remainder to fund further exploration at Juanicipio and other projects, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
• Candente Gold Corp., applied to TSX for approval to extend the exercise period of 5M outstanding share purchase warrants issued pursuant to the private placement completed on August 2016. The amended expiry date was August 12th, 2020 and if the extension is approved, the new expiration date will be August 12th, 2021. (El Oro property in Mexico State).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

• Alamos Gold Inc., reported results of the positive internal economic study completed on its fully permitted La Yaqui Grande project located in the Mulatos mining district and announced that it will begin the development of the project. The Mineral Reserves as of December 2019 of La Yaqui Grande deposit are 19.2M tonnes of 1.17 g/t Au and 16 g/t Ag, containing 724K Oz Au and 9.8M Oz Ag. Additionally, Measured and Indicated Resources are 1.3M tonnes of 1.01 g/t Au and 8 g/t Ag, containing 43K Oz Au and 340K Oz Ag. Highlights of the economic study include an average Au production of 123K Oz Au per year; AISC of $578 per Oz Au; NPV of $165M at a 5% discount rate and an after tax IRR of 41% using a base case Au cost of $1,450 per Oz or  a NPV of  $260M at a 5% discount rate and an after tax IRR of 58% using a base case Au cost of $1,750 per Oz; mine life of five years; and an initial capital of $137M to be spent over a two year period starting in H2, 2020. From the total investment, between USD $15-$20M will be spent during 2020 and the rest during 2021 and the first semester of 2022. Part of the resources will be used to build a heap leach pad, waste dump, water treatment plant, as well as the installation of a crushing circuit.
• GoGold Resources Inc., announced initial mineral resource estimate at its Los Ricos project in Jalisco, and updated the mineral reserve at the Parral Tailings operation, and the mineral resource estimate at its Esmeralda Tailings project located near Parral, Chihuahua. At Los Ricos South, measured & indicated resource are 10M tonnes of 0.91 g/t Au and 119 g/t Ag (2.27 g/t AuEq or 199 g/t AgEq) for a total of 293K Oz Au and 38.05 M Oz Ag (728K Oz AuEq or 63.7M Oz AgEq), and inferred resources of 3.3M tonnes of 0.88 g/t Au and 112 g/t Ag (2.17 g/t AuEq or 190 g/t AgEq) for a total of 93K Oz Au and 11.78 M Oz Ag (227K Oz AuEq or 19.9M Oz AgEq). Los Ricos South mineral resource is amenable to open pit and bulk underground mining methods, and will form the base of a PEA expected to be completed by the end of 2020. At Parral Tailings, proven + probable reserves are 15.4M tonnes of 0.34 g/t Au and 33 g/t Ag (0.72 g/t AuEq or 64 g/t AgEq) for a total of 171K Oz Au and 16.6M Oz Ag (358K Oz AuEq or 31.6M Oz AgEq). At La Esmeralda Tailings, measured and indicated resources are 5.72M tonnes of 0.26 g/t Au and 49 g/t Ag (72 g/t AgEq) for a total of 48.4K Oz Au and 9.1M Oz Ag (13.3M Oz AgEq).
• Consolidated Zinc Limited advised that the environmental authority of Mexico has granted their approval for refurbishment of its Plomosas plant in Chihuahua, and construction and operation of the tailings storage facility (TSF). The company is finalizing the costing for the plant refit and TSF build and expect to advise the findings of the study this quarter.
• Ridgestone Mining Inc., entered into a toll milling agreement to process bulk samples from historic dumps of the Alaska vein at its Rebeico project in Sonora. Highlights include a fixed-price toll mining agreement with nearby Real Viejo flotation mill for up to 300 tonnes per day, and bulk samples planned to process historical surface dump material grading up to 16.85 g/t Au and 2.70% Cu. In addition, Ridgestone has also received bids from mining contractors to rehabilitate historical underground workings along the Alaska vein to facilitate underground and bulk sampling of zones where drill-hole intervals assayed 36.1g/t Au and 1.22% Cu over 1.5m, and 8.31gT Au and 2.41% Cu over 3.25m in 2018.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

• Brigadier Gold Ltd., announced the appointment of its new special adviser (Picachos project in Sinaloa).
• Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., signed an option agreement with Grupo Peñoles to acquire the Zimapan property and related assets located in Zimapan, Hidalgo for a total consideration of USD $20M. Assets to be acquired pursuant to the Transaction include: The Zimapan mill facility which is a 75,000 dry metric tonnes (DMT) per month facility with zinc, lead and copper circuits; surface and underground infrastructure including electrical and other necessary infrastructure to carry on day to day operations; and 34 mining concessions covering an area of 5,139 hectares. To date, 14 mineral zones have been identified that are characterized as polymetallic replacement mineralization of Pliocene age. Within the mineral zones, Ag, Pb, Zn, and Cu minerals have preferentially replaced the carbonate host rocks and pre-existing skarn bodies to produce disseminated, semi-massive sulphide and massive sulphide bodies that occur in proximity to monzonitic intrusions and quartz-feldspar porphyry dikes.
• Minera Alamos Inc., hired new VP project development and appointed new COO (Santana project in Sonora).
• Consolidated Zinc Ltd., presented results from its annual general meeting of shareholders and advised that a new constitution was approved and adopted by shareholders (Plomosas mine in Chihuahua).
• Candente Gold Corp., launched the “CEO Verified” Discussion Forum on AGORACOM. The forum will serve as the company’s primary social media platform to interact with both shareholders and the broader investment community in a fully moderated environment  (El Oro property in Mexico State).
• Monarca Minerals Inc., announced that it is proposing to settle an aggregate of approximately $380.6K owing to certain officers and directors and services providers through the issuance of an aggregate of approximately 7,612,000 common shares at an issue price of CAD $0.05. The amount to be settled includes approximately $202K out of $350K in accrued directors’ fees and management and consulting fees owing to the company’s directors and officers, as the case maybe. (Tejamen project in Durango).
• Telson Mining Corporation, provided an update on filing annual 2019 audited and Q1, 2020 financial statements. Telson expects to file the required annual and Q1, 2020 financials an MD & A by the July 30, 2020 deadline. (Tahuehueto project in Durango).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• The Municipal Water and Sanitation Board of Chihuahua (JMAS) is extracting water from the Esmeralda and Arbolito mines to feed a dam in Parral Chihuahua. The dam is currently at 13% of its capacity and in order not to cause ecological damage, it cannot be left dry. Water extracted from the mines also guarantees supply to a sector of the city.
• Minera Peñasquito supplies water to 5 thousand people of the communities of Cedros, Mesas, Charcos, Nuevo Peñasco and Palmas. Regarding make water safe to drink, the company has four treatment plants, one inside the Peñasquito mine and three more outside, in the Cedros, Mesas and Charcos communities, from which potable water is distributed to the aforementioned localities.
• Minera Saucito, a subsidiary of Fresnillo plc, received international certification for its commitment to the health and safety of its collaborators. The ISO 45001 Certificate: “Occupational health and safety management systems at work” was obtained from the international company BSI Group, based in the United Kingdom, whose services are: evaluating, certifying and training operating processes of different industries such as: mining, pharmaceutical, aerospace, entertainment, among others. The model stands out for its objective of reducing risks and injuries to collaborators derived from the processes associated with the exploration and exploitation of minerals. Minera Saucito is the first Fresnillo plc Unit to achieve this certification.
• Minera Penmont (Fresnillo plc), implemented a health model for the safety of its workers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has taken a series of multidisciplinary medical and health activities aimed at promoting a culture of disease prevention and control, and the elimination of risk factors at work. The effectiveness and implementation of this type of model is recognized by the World Health Organization and allows comprehensive care within the mine that is committed to the well-being and safety of the workforce.
• Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán (Fortuna Silver), dissociated itself from the alleged environmental incident and reiterated its commitment to the communities in which it operates, following up on the community’s concern about physical changes in the water of two recently built grazing ponds in the Ocotillo area, in the municipality of Magdalena Ocotlán. Later on, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) announced that it carried out an inspection of the built grazing ponds in the Ocotillo area and demarcated mining company from any responsibility for the damages in the water pools in Ocotlán (San Jose mine in Oaxaca).

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

On the picture above, quartz veins in a low sulphidation epithermal system in a prospect in Oaxaca, Mexico.  Photo by Miguel A Heredia.