Pre-Feasibility Study

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of August, 2024

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Hydrothermal Quartz Breccia

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 31st week of the year (July 29th to August 04th 2024), at least 32 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with ten communicating production and financial results, nine disclosing deals and corporate issues, five announcing financing rounds, five reporting resources and development of their properties, two informing on exploration results, and one commenting on Mexican issues.   ON MEXICO ISSUES, First Majestic and Silver Tiger reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of August, 2024. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Reyna Gold released the final drill results from its La Gloria project.  In Sinaloa, Prismo announced that a man-portable drill is mobilizing for the upcoming drilling program at its Palos Verdes project.  ON MINING, Gold Resourceannounced that it will host a conference call on Wednesday, August 7 2024 to report Q2, 2024 results (Don David Gold mine, Oaxaca).Capstone announcedQ2, 2024 production results (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas).  First Majestic reported Q2, 2024 consolidated financial results from their Mexican operations. Sierra Madre announced the first silver-gold concentrate shipment from its La Guitarra mine, Mexico. Starcore reported Q3 and year end 2024 results for its San Martin mine in Queretaro. Gatos Silver announced that it will release its Q2, 2024 financial and operating on August 6, 2024 results (Cerro Los Gatos, Chihuahua). Agnico Eagle reported Q2, 2024 production and financial results from their Pinos Altos mine in Chihuahua and La India mine in Sonora.  Alamos Gold presented Q2, 2024 production and financial results from its Mulatos mine in Sonora. Endeavour reported Q2, 2024 operational and financial results from their Mexican operations. MAG Silver released (on a 100% basis), Q2, 2024 production and final results from its Juanicipio min in Zacatecas.  ON FINANCING, Defiance Silver closed the second and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $608,715 (Zacatecas project, Zacatecas). Vizsla closed the first tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $4,967,498 (Panuco property, Sinaloa). Southern Silver extended closing of the second and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $4.5M for a period of 30 days (Cerro Las Minitas, Durango). Vizsla Royalties closed the final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $225K (Panuco project, Sinaloa). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Silver Tiger reported results from its Pre-Feasibility Study drilling program at its El Tigre project in Sonora. Infinitum provided an update on progress at its Adelita project in Sonora. Orogen Royalties and operator First Majestic announced a new significant gold-silver discovery on the Ermitaño mine concession in Sonora, where Orogen holds a 2% net smelter return royalty. Torex provided an update on the development of its Media Luna project in Guerrero.   ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Candelaria announced changes to its Board of Directors (Pinos project, Zacatecas).  Florida Canyon announced incentive plan grants to certain employees, executive officers, directors, and consultants (El Castillo mine, Durango).  Plata Latina presented voting results of its annual general meeting of shareholders (Naranjillo project, Guanajuato).  Galore Resources announced that the British Columbia Securities Commission issued a management cease trade order that prohibits all trading by the CEO and CFO (Dos Santos project, Zacatecas).  Silver Storm reported that it delayed the filing of its annual financial statements, management’s discussion and analysis and related officer certifications for the financial year ended March 31, 2024 (La Parrilla mine, Durango).  Sonoro Gold corrected disclosures related to its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora. Bear Creek announces that its Board of Directors authorized and approved a grant of 200K to its VP Exploration and Geology (Mercedes mine, Sonora). Santacruz granted stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants (Zimapan mine, Hidalgo).  Vizsla Royalties completed a consolidation of its issued and outstanding common shares (Panuco project, Sinaloa). Golden Minerals declared that the company does not have sufficient resources to meet its expected cash needs over the next twelve months (Velardeña project, Durango). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • First Majestic Silver Corp., and Silver Tiger Metals Inc., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of August, 2024. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Prismo Metals Inc., announced that a man-portable drill is mobilizing for the upcoming drilling program at its Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa. Drilling is planned to commence on August 5, 2024 and the goal is “trace the down dip extension of the mineralized shoot defined by previous drilling on the southwest portion of the vein, Seek continuation of the vein on the northeast extension of the vein across a cross-fault believed to have offset the vein downward, and test the extreme northeasterly extension of the Palos Verdes vein system near the concession limit adjacent to the historical Jesusita mine”.
  • Reyna Gold Corp., released the final drill results from its La Gloria project in Sonora. Drilling highlights in The Western Target include holes LG-23-58 with 0.29 g/t Au over 39.1m, including 0.99 g/t Au over 4.85m, including 7.16 g/t Au over 0.55m; hole LG-23-59 with 0.26 g/t Au over 14.2m, including 1.82 g/t Au over 0.4m and 1.06 g/t Au over 0.95m; hole LG-23-60 with 0.23 g/t Au over 12.7m, including 1.95 g/t Au over 0.65m, and 1.10 g/t Au over 0.50m, plus 0.92 g/t Au over 3.30m, including 5.16 g/t Au over 0.55m. Drilling highlights in the La Republica Target include holes LG-23-49 with 0.19 g/t Au over 13.7m, including 3.6 g/t Au over 0.5m, plus 0.23 g/t Au over 35.2m, including 0.65 g/t Au over 0.55m, 2.09 g/t Au over 0.50, 1.2 g/t Au over and 2.19 g/t Au over 1m; and hole LG-23-42 with 0.23 g/t Au over 25.35m, including 2.77 g/t Au over 0.60m, and 3.91 g/t Au over 0.5m, plus 72 g/t  Ag, 0.5% Cu and 0.55% Pb over 1.60m

ON MINING

  • Gold Resource Corporation announced that it will host a conference call on Wednesday, August 7 2024 to report Q2, 2024 results (Don David Gold mine, Oaxaca).
  • Capstone Copper Corp., announcedQ2, 2024 production results (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas). The company produced 13.78M Lb Cu at cash cost of USDS $1.74 per Lb Cu produced.
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., reported Q2, 2024 consolidated financial results from their Mexican operations (all numbers expressed in US dollars). The company announced a revenue of $136.2M; a mine operating earnings of $15.5M; operating cash flows before movements in working capital and taxes of $23.8M; consolidated cash cost and AISC of $15.29 and $21.64 per Oz AgEq respectively; and cash and restricted cash balance of $269.7M consisting of $152.2M cash and cash equivalents and $117.5M of restricted cash- First Majestic declared a cash dividend of $0.0046 per common share (Santa Elena mine in Sonora, San Dimas mine in Durango, and  La Encantada mine in Coahuila).
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., announced the first silver-gold concentrate shipment from its La Guitarra mine, Mexico. The company shipped 90.68 dry metric tonnes (DMT) which contained approximately 3,000 grams of silver and 30 grams gold per DMT. The company has approximately 90 dry metric tonnes of additional concentrate that is expected to ship later this week.
  • Starcore International Mines Ltd., reported Q3 and year end 2024 results for its San Martin mine in Queretaro. In Q3, the company milled 55.9K tonnes of 1.91 g/t Au and 20 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 88.6% and 56.9% respectively to produce 3K Oz Au and 19.7K Oz Ag (3.2K Oz AuEq) at a operating cash cost of USD $1,411 per Oz AuEq.It also reported revenue of 9.3M; income from mining operations of $2.2M; total assets of $51.98M; and cash in hands of $5.7M. In the full year 2024, Starcore milled 224.3K tonnes of 1.50 g/t Au and 16 g/t Ag with metallurgical recoveries of 87% and 50.9% respectively to produce 9.4K Oz Au and 58K Oz Ag (10.1K Oz AuEq) at a operating cash cost of USD $1,686 per Oz AuEq. It also reported revenue of 28.3M; income from mining operations of $2.4M; total assets of $51.98M; and cash in hands of $5.3M.
  • Gatos Silver Inc., announced that it will release its Q2, 2024 financial and operating on August 6, 2024 results via conference call and webcast (Cerro Los Gatos, Chihuahua).
  • Agnico Eagle Mines Limited reported Q2, 2024 production and financial results from their Pinos Altos mine in Chihuahua and La India mine in Sonora (currency is expressed in US dollars). At Pinos Altos, Chihuahua the company milled 454K tonnes of 1.7 g/t Au to produce 23,754 Oz Au at production cost of $1,815 per Oz Au and total cash cost of $1,414 per Oz Au. Agnico also reported a sustaining capital expenditure of $6.1M; development capital expenditures of $806K; net income of $67.8M; payable metal sold of 25,510 Oz Au; total cash cost co-product of $1,793 per Oz Au, and total cash cost by-product of $1,414 per Oz Au. At La India, Sonora (residual leaching to continue through year-end 2024), the company produced 6,079 Oz Au at production cost of $2,146 per Oz Au and total cash cost of $2,171 per Oz Au. Agnico also reported net income of $16.55M; payable metal sold of 7,020 Oz Au; total cash cost co-product of $2,230 per Oz Au, and total cash cost by-product of $2,172 per Oz Au.
  • Alamos Gold Inc., presented Q2, 2024 production and financial results from its Mulatos mine in Sonora (currency is expressed in US dollars). The company produced 53,400 Oz Au and sold 56,100 Oz Au to generate cost of sales for $75.2M, at a cost of sale per Oz Au (includes amortization) of $1,340. Total cash cost and mine-site all in sustaining cost per Oz Au sold were $907 and $963 respectively. Alamos Gold also reported revenue of $133.4M; earnings from operations of $54.3M; cash provided by operations activities of $77.7M; and mine-site free cash flow of $69.9M.
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., reported Q2, 2024 operational and financial results from their Guanacevi mine in Durango and Bolañitos mine in Guanajuato (currency expressed in US dollars). At Guanacevi, Durango it mined 112,898 tonnes to produce 1.2M Oz Ag (1.5M Oz AgEq) at cash cost and all in sustaining cost of $17.17 and $24.53 per Oz Ag respectively. At Bolañitos, Guanajuato the company mined 106,092 tonnes to produce 111.3K Oz Ag (621.2M Oz AgEq) at cash cost and all in sustaining cost of $26.67 and $8.15 per Oz Ag respectively. Endeavour also presented consolidated financial results, reporting strong revenue of $ $58.3M from the sale of 1,217,569 Oz Ag and 9,887 Oz Au at average realized prices of $28.94 per Oz Ag and $2,374 per Oz Au; mine operating cash flow before taxes of $18.9M; a loss of $1M; and cash position of $68.1M, and working capital of $64.5M.
  • MAG Silver Corp., released (on a 100% basis), Q2, 2024 production and final results from its Juanicipio min in Zacatecas (currency is expressed in US dollars). The company mined 349,460 tonnes and processed 336,592 tonnes of 498 g/t Ag, 1.2 g/t Au, 1.6% Pb, and 3% Zn (746 g/t AgEq) to produce 4.27M Oz Ag, 7.2K Oz Au, 9.2M Lb Pb, and 15.2M Lb Zn at cash and all in sustaining costs of $8.86 and $11.31 per Oz AgEq sold respectively. MAG reported net income of $21.6M ($0.21 per share); adjusted EBITDA of $50.3M; strong operating cash flow of $92.8M and free cash flow of $88.6M.Juanicipio returned a total of $29.8M in interest and loan principal repayments to MAG further augmenting MAG’s liquidity position to $97.3M million at the end of the quarter.

ON FINANCING

  • Defiance Silver Corp., closed the second and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $608,715, with the issuance of 3,043,575 units at a price of CAD $0.20 per unit. The aggregate gross proceeds of the first tranche and final tranche total CAD $3,222,615 representing 16,113,075 Units. The net proceeds of the offering will be used by the company for exploration and general working capital purposes (Zacatecas project, Zacatecas).
  • Vizsla Royalties Corp., closed the first tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $4,967,498 by the issuance of 82,791,636 units at a price of CAD $0.06 per share. Net proceeds from the offering are expected to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes (Panuco property, Sinaloa).
  • Southern Silver Exploration Corp. extended closing of the second and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $4.5M for a period of 30 days. Net proceeds from the private placement will be used for the continued development of the Cerro Las Minitas property, Durango, Mexico and for working capital. “Specifically, the company plans to initiate a program of resource expansion of up to 6000m of drilling in 11 holes to test shallow targets along the north side of the Cerro between the North Felsite and Skarn Front deposits. Drilling will start in early September. Work continues to de-risk the project through the initiation of base-line studies and continued social engagement”.
  • Vizsla Royalties Corp., closed the final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $225K by the issuance of a further 3,750,000 shares at a price of CAD $0.06 per share. The total gross proceeds raised for the offering was CAD $5,192,498, issuing 86,541,636 common shares of the company at CAD $0.06 per share.  Net proceeds from the offering are expected to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes (Panuco project, Sinaloa).

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., reported results from its Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) drilling program at its El Tigre project in Sonora. The most significant drill intercepts were encountered in hole ET-24-609 with 0.76 g/t Au and 1 g/t Ag (0.77 g/t AuEq or 58 g/t AgEq) over 24.2m (Stockwork Zone), plus 0.56 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag (0.6 g/t AuEq or 45 g/t AgEq) over 53.8m (stockwork Zone), plus 0.09 g/t Au and 74 g/t Ag (1.08 g/t AuEq or 81 g/t AgEq) over 40m (El Tigre Vein Keel), including 0.12 g/t Au and 135 g/t Ag (1.92 g/t AuEq or 144 g/t AgEq) over 17.3m, plus 0.17 g/t Au and 142 g/t Ag (2.07 g/t AuEq or 155 g/t AgEq) over 50.7m (Seitz Kelly Vein Keel), including 0.2 g/t Au and 319 g/t Ag (4.46 g/t AuEq or 334 g/t AgEq) over 14.3m. To date, 138 holes for the PFS have been drilled at El Tigre and results are highlighting the expansion of stockwork mineralization in the Keel Zone, now projecting mineralization 100 metres below the PEA designed pit. “On May 20th, Silver Tiger has completed PFS Drilling, totalling 24,550 metres focused on expanding the Mineral Resource, upgrading the classification, completing metallurgical test work and geotechnical studies as it progresses from an exploration to a development project. The value-added PFS progress is on schedule for publication in H2-2024”.
  • Infinitum Copper Corp., provided an update on progress at its Adelita project in Sonora. The company mobilized equipment to provide access to the Cerro Grande adit to drive a 100m long, 3m wide x 3 m access tunnel to the mineralized body.
  • Orogen Royalties Inc., and operator First Majestic Silver Corp., announced a new significant gold-silver discovery (Navidad Vein) on the Ermitaño mine concessions in Sonora, where Orogen holds a 2% net smelter return royalty. Highlight drill holes include holes EW-24-364 with 8.15 g/t Au and 427 g/t Ag over 4.78m; hole EW-24-370 with 10.13 g/t Au and 86 g/t Ag over 4.42m and 5.65 g/t Au and 46 g/t Ag over 5.75m in the hanging wall vein; and hole EW-24-368 with 54.93 g/t Au and 399 g/t Ag over 1.82m.  “The Navidad vein system, that includes a hanging wall vein, has an apparent strike continuity of 750m and dip continuity of 250m. Vein thickness for both areas range from 1.5m to 6.0m. The zone is open in all directions”.
  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., provided an update on the development of its Media Luna project in Guerrero.  As of June 30, 2024, the Media Luna Project by Torex Gold is 78% complete and on schedule, with first copper concentrate production expected by the end of 2024 and commercial production anticipated in Q1, 2025. Remaining expenditures of the project’s budget have been reviewed and finalized at USD $950M, reflecting a USD $75M increase due to the stronger Mexican peso. Given the project capital increase, the Media Luna capital expenditures guidance for 2024 will be adjusted and the range narrowed to $430 – $450M, from $350 – $400M.Key construction activities include the installation of a mine-wide pumping system, progress in surface construction, and ongoing recruitment and training for operational readiness. Overall, the project is advancing steadily towards its goals.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Candelaria Mining Corp., announced changes to its Board of Directors (Pinos project, Zacatecas).
  • Florida Canyon Gold Inc., announced incentive plan grants to certain employees, executive officers, directors, and consultants. The company granted an aggregate of 1,980,833 restricted share units and 498,659 deferred share units (El Castillo mine, Durango).
  • Plata Latina Minerals Corporation presented voting results of its annual general meeting of shareholders (Naranjillo project, Guanajuato).
  • Galore Resources Inc., announced that the British Columbia Securities Commission issued a management cease trade order (MCTO) that prohibits, effective immediately, all trading of the securities of the company by the CEO and CFO. The MCTO is being issued with respect to the Company’s delay in meeting the deadline for filing its annual financial statements, Management Discussion and Analysis and related CEO / CFO certifications due July 29, 2024 (Dos Santos project, Zacatecas).
  • Silver Storm Mining Ltd., reported that it delayed the filing of its annual financial statements, management’s discussion and analysis and related officer certifications for the financial year ended March 31, 2024. The Company is providing this default announcement in accordance with National Policy 12-203 Management Cease Trade Orders (La Parrilla mine, Durango).
  • Sonoro Gold Corp., corrected disclosures contained in corporate presentations posted on the Company’s website and emails distributed to an investor relations contact list, related to its Cerro Caliche project in Sonora.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation announces that its Board of Directors authorized and approved a grant of 200K to its VP Exploration and Geology at the strike price of CAD $0.325 per share (Mercedes mine, Sonora).
  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., granted 675K deferred share units, 850K restricted share units, 2.5M performance share units and 2.47M stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants (Zimapan mine, Hidalgo).
  • Vizsla Royalties Corp., completed a consolidation of its issued and outstanding common shares on the basis of one new common share for every existing ten common shares. The consolidation was approved by the Company’s Board of Directors on July 31, 2024 (Panuco project, Sinaloa).
  • Golden Minerals Company declared that the company does not have sufficient resources to meet its expected cash needs over the next twelve months. The company is facing financial challenges, with approximately USD $1.4M in cash and USD $4.8M in liabilities as of June 30, 2024. The company has ceased mining operations at the Velardeña mine and is exploring options to secure funding, including the sale of assets, such as the Velardeña and Yoquivo properties in Mexico, and the El Quevar project in Argentina. Golden Minerals has entered into agreements to sell certain assets for USD $5.5M but are experiencing delays in receiving full payments. Without additional cash inflows, the company anticipates exhausting its resources by September 2024, which could lead to a cessation of operations and potential liquidation.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • No relevant news.

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

On the picture above, a hydrothermal quartz breccia in an epithermal vein system in a project in Zacatecas, Mexico. Photo taken by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of May, 2024

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Quartz stockwork veining in andesites

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 18th week of the year (April 29th to May 5th, 2024), at least 27 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 2 news published by the media with eight communicating production and financial results, seven announcing financing rounds, six reporting resources and development of their properties, five disclosing deals and corporate issues, and three commenting on Mexican issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, At least 670 workers at the Velardeña mine, owned by the company Peñoles, located in the municipality of Cuencamé, Durango, closed the facilities of the mining complex to demand payment of profits. Mining companies such as Grupo Mexico, Torex Gold, and Cuzcatlán (Fortuna Silver) lose up to 15% of their profits due to the “Mexican superpeso”. Silver Tiger reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of May, 2024. ON EXPLORATION, no relevant news. ON MINING, Gold Resource announced it will reschedule release of its Q1, 2024 financial results (Don David, Oaxaca). Americas Gold and Silver provided Q1 2024 production results from its Cosala mine, Sinaloa. Luca Mining reported Q4 and full year 2023 production and financial results from their Campo Morado mine in Guerrero and Tahuehueto mine in Durango. Avino announced that it plans to release its Q1, 2024 financial results on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 (Avino mine, Durango). Coeur reported Q1, 2024 production results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. Bear Creek announced 2023 year end production and financial results from its Mercedes mine in Sonora. Capstone reported Q1 2024 production results from its Cozamin mine in Zacatecas. Santacruz announced full year 2023 production results from its Zimapan mine in Hidalgo. ON FINANCING, Fortuna Silver has renewed its share repurchase program, allowing for the repurchase of up to five percent of its outstanding common shares (San Jose mine, Oaxaca). Guanajuato Silver gave notice of an upsizing of its previously announced brokered private placement for an additional CAD $2,250,000 (El Cubo, Valenciana, and San Ignacio mines, Guanajuato). Impact Silver announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $3,200,000 (Plomosas mine, Chihuahua). Infinitum Copper has amended the terms of its previously announced private placement and now it plans to rise gross proceeds of up to CAD $450,000 (La Adelita project, Sonora). Minaurum closed its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $5,696,250 (Alamos Silver project, Sonora). Guanajuato Silver announced that it has filed an amended and restated offering document related to its previously announced brokered financing (El Cubo, Valenciana, and San Ignacio mines, Guanajuato). Infinitum Copper closed the first tranche of its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of $1,452,600, and upsized its previously announced non-brokered listed issuer financing exemption (LIFE) private placement for gross proceeds of up to $1,700,000.  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Luca Mining has successfully completed metallurgical test work for a new copper concentrate at its Campo Morado mine in Guerrero. Minera Alamos provided operational update on their Santana and Cerro de Oro properties located in Sonora and Zacatecas respectively, as well as the acquisition of Suaqui Verde project in Sonora. Torex Gold provided a Q1, 2024 update on its Media Luna property in Guerrero. Silver Tiger provided an update on the ongoing pre-feasibility study drilling program on the Stockwork gold deposit on its El Tigre project in Sonora. Minera Alamos provided an update on Cobre 4H and copper assets. Xali Gold provided an update on the company´s activities in Mexico. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Prismo announced the appointment of its new President (Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa). Americas Gold and Silver announced the appointment of its new Chief Operating Officer (Cosala mine, Sinaloa). GR Silver has enhanced its financial position by signing a definitive agreement to sell Marlin Gold to WP Servicios Industriales S.A. de C.V. (Plomosas project, Sinaloa). Royalties Inc., announced advances on two of its major investments in Mexico (Bilbao project, Zacatecas).  Sonoran Desert received a Management Cease Trade Order (MCTO) due to a delay in filing required financial documents for the year ended December 31, 2023.  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY,  no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • At least 670 workers at the Velardeña mine, owned by the company Peñoles, located in the municipality of Cuencamé, Durango, closed the facilities of the mining complex to demand payment of profits, this after last April the company reported that there will be no profits because the mine It was declared zero last year. Workers accused the local leaders of the “Frente” Mining Union and the national Carlos Pavón Campos of being at the service of Peñoles, since, they say, this is the third time that the company represented by Alejandro Baillères does not make the corresponding payment of the profits. The claim of the 670 workers of the Velardeña mine is added to the demands of the United States government to Industrias Peñoles to review the working conditions in one of its mines. This request responds to a request from the National Union of Mining, Metallurgical, Steel and Steel Workers. Similar ones from the Mexican Republic, headed by  senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia of the Morena political party, who points out the alleged denial of the rights of free association and collective bargaining in one of the group’s mines. The Velardeña mine began operations in May 2013 and is currently the most important Zinc mine of Industrias Peñoles and the second largest nationally, which places Durango as one of the three main zinc-producing states in Mexico.
  • Mining companies lose up to 15% of their profits due to the “Mexican superpeso”. The results of Grupo México, Torex Gold and Cuzcatlán were weak due to the appreciation of the Mexican currency. As the Mexican peso gains ground against the dollar, mining companies such as Grupo México, Torex Gold or Cuzcatlán face a complex environment because mineral export contracts are handled in US currency, which caused profit margins to be impacted by up to a 15 percent.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of May, 2024. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • No relevant news.

ON MINING

  • Gold Resource Corporation announced it will reschedule release of its Q1, 2024 financial results. The preliminary results announced on April 15, 2024, remain unchanged. The conference call will be hosted on Friday, May 3, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. Mountain Time) (Don David, Oaxaca).
  • Americas Gold and Silver Corporation provided Q1 2024 production results from its Cosala mine, Sinaloa. The company produced approximately 295K Oz Ag, 2.8M Lb Pb, and 8M Lb Zn. Based on the current higher silver and copper price, the company decided to expedite the development of its 100% owned EC120 project at the Cosala operation. Initial access to the Zone 120 deposit occurred in Q3-2023 from the San Rafael Upper Zone development. In addition, the company continues mining and processing silver-zinc ore from the San Rafael Main and Upper Zones and is pleased with the increase in zinc prices so far in the second quarter”. 
  • Luca Mining Corp., reported Q4 and full year 2023 production and financial results from their Campo Morado mine in Guerrero and Tahuehueto mine in Durango. In Q4, 2023, Luca processed in the two plants about 130,120 tonnes of 1.4 g/t Au, 76 g/t Ag, 2.5% Zn, 0.64% Cu, and 0.7% Pb with metallurgical recoveries of 53.8%, 49.2%, 84.1%, 80.2%, and 62.6% respectively to produce 3,155 Oz Au, 155.8K Oz Ag, 6.1M Lb Pb, 1.5M Lb Cu, and 1.25M Lb Zn (11,809 Oz AuEq). Campo Morado accounted for 8,658 Oz AuEq, which represents 73% of the total production and Tahuehueto contributed 3,150 Oz AuEq, representing 27% of the total production. Cash cost and All Includes Sustaining Cost (AISC) were USD $1,244 and USD $1,437 per Oz AuEq respectively. In the full year 2023, the company processed in the two plants about 665,132 tonnes of 1.29 g/t Au, 75 g/t Ag, 2.8% Zn, 0.59% Cu, and 0.7% Pb with metallurgical recoveries of 33.2%, 46.3%, 80.4%, 66.6%, and 54.3% respectively to produce 11,832 Oz Au, 688.1K Oz Ag, 34.1M Lb Pb, 5.86M Lb Cu, and 6.02 Lb Pb (55,719 Oz AuEq). Campo Morado accounted for 43,089 Oz AuEq, which represents 73% of the total production and Tahuehueto contributed 12,630 Oz AuEq, representing 27% of the total production. Cash cost and AISC were USD $1,219 and USD $1,405 per Oz AuEq respectively. The company sold 9,951 Oz Au, 495.5K Oz Ag, 24.98 M Lb Zn, 3.8M Lb Cu, and 1.8M Lb Pb at average realized prices of USD $1,958/ Oz Au, USD $23.37/Oz Ag, USD $2,514/tonne Zn, USD $8,394/tonne Cu, and USD $2,093/tonne Pb. The company reported revenues of  $68.27M; mine operating profit of $1.47M; mine operating cashflow before taxes of $5.5M; net loss of $15M; EBITDA of $ (6.4M), and adjusted EBITDA of $(5.67M).
  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., announced that it plans to release its Q1, 2024 financial results on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 (Avino mine, Durango).
  • Coeur Mining Inc., reported Q1, 2024 production results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. The company milled 500,747 tonnes of 1.28 g/t Au and 135 g/t Ag, with metallurgical recoveries of 95.2% and 83.7% respectively to produce 33,160 Oz Au and 1.82M Oz Ag. Coeur sold 33,462 Oz Au and 1.8M Oz Ag at average realized prices of USD $1,611 per Oz Au and USD $23.64 per Oz Ag. The company also reported (all currency expressed in US dollars) metal sales for $96.4M; cost applicable to sales for $54.3M; adjusted cost applicable to sales (CAS) of $901 per Oz Au; adjusted CAS of $13.18 per Oz Ag; exploration expenses for $2.5M; cash flow from operating activities for $25.6M; sustaining capital expenditures (excludes capital lease payments) for $4.7M; development capital expenditures for $68M; and free cash flow of $18.8M. The company announced that the full year 2024 production is expected to be 95K-103K Oz Au and 5.9-6.7M Oz Ag; the CAS is expected to be $1,075-1275 per Oz Au and $16.5-17.5 per Oz Ag; and the capital expenditures are expected to be $32-42M consisting primarily of sustaining capital and underground development.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation announced 2023 year end production and financial results from its Mercedes mine in Sonora. The company mined 496.7K tonnes of 2.93 g/t Au and processed 521.8K tonnes of 2.77 g/t Au with a metallurgical recovery of 94.92% to produce 43,860 Oz Au and 167K Oz Ag. It sold 44,403 Oz Au at a realized average price of USD $1,960 per Oz Au. Cash and all in sustaining costs (AISC) were USD $1,376 and USD $1,769 per Oz Au sold respectively. Bear Creek also reported revenue of USD $89.15M; comprehensive earnings (loss) after taxes of USD ($38.98M); cash generated from (used in) operating activities of USD ($1.46M); cash generated from (used in) investing activities of USD ($16.4M); and generated from (used in) financing activities of USD $18.34M.
  • Capstone Copper Corp., reported Q1 2024 production results from its Cozamin mine in Zacatecas.  The company produced 13.45M Lb Cu at cash cost of USD $1.93 per Lb Cu produced.
  • Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., announced full year 2023 production results from its Zimapan mine in Hidalgo. The company milled 769,303 tonnes of 75 g/t Ag, 2.3% Zn, 0.8% Pb, and 0.32% Cu to produce 1.36M Oz Ag, 30.05M Lb Zn, 10.56M Lb Pb, and 2.81M Lb Cu (4.31M Oz AgEq).

ON FINANCING

  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., has been allowed by the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and/or alternative Canadian trading systems to renew its share repurchase program, allowing for the repurchase of up to five percent of its outstanding common shares. The company believes that its shares may not adequately reflect their underlying value in the market. Pursuant to the normal course issuer bid, Fortuna is permitted to repurchase up to 15,287,201 common shares, being five percent of its outstanding 305,744,039 common shares as of April 26, 2024. Common shares purchased under the NCIB will be cancelled. The program will run until May 1, 2025, or until the maximum allowable shares are acquired, based on various factors including financial performance and available cash flow. Purchases will be made through open market transactions and in compliance with applicable securities laws (San Jose mine, Oaxaca).
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., gave notice of an upsizing of its previously announced brokered private placement for an additional CAD $2,250,000. The aggregate gross proceeds to the company will now be up to CAD $10,875,000 under the combined Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (“LIFE”) and Private Placement. Net proceeds will be used to   add to the company’s underground fleet and ramp up production at Guanajuato Silver’s producing mines in Guanajuato and Durango;  fund certain improvements to expand and modernize the processing facilities at the Topia mine, Durango and mill complex including capital expenditures and related costs; fund corporate head office general and administrative expenses including legal, audit, overhead and salaries for the ensuing 12 months; and carry out detailed exploration at Guanajuato Silver’s mineral properties, particularly San Ignacio and Valenciana.
  • Impact Silver Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $3,200,000 from the sale of up to 11,428,572 units (the “LIFE Units”) at a price of $0.28 per LIFE Unit, and up to $3,000,000 from the sale of up to 11,111,111 standard private placement units (the “Standard PP Units”) at $0.27 per Standard PP Unit. The company intends to use the proceeds from the Offering to accelerate exploration activity at its Plomosas high-grade zinc-lead-silver property located in Chihuahua, Mexico, further develop its prolific silver assets at its legacy Royal Mines of Zacualpan district, as well as invest in operational improvements to improve productivity and throughput as the price of silver nears 52-week highs.
  • Infinitum Copper Corp., has amended the terms of its previously announced private placement and now it plans to rise gross proceeds of up to CAD $450,000 from the sale of up to 11,250,000 units of the company at a price of CAD $0.04 per unit. Gross proceeds of the offering will be used for the establishment of mining operations at the La Adelita project in Sonora and for general corporate purposes.
  • Minaurum Gold Inc., closed its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of CAD $5,696,250 from the sale of 22,785,000 units at a price of CAD $0.25 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share of the company and one half of one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one common share of the company at a price of CAD $0.34 at any time on or before May 2, 2024. Net proceeds will be used to complete a National Instrument 43-101 resource at Alamos Silver project in Sonora.
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., announced that it has filed an amended and restated offering document related to its previously announced brokered financing for gross proceeds of up to CAD $10,875,000. The offering is anticipated to close on or about the week of May 6, 2024, or such later date as the company and the agents may determine (El Cubo, Valenciana, and San Ignacio mines, Guanajuato).
  • Infinitum Copper Corp., closed the first tranche of its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of $1,452,600, and upsized its previously announced non-brokered listed issuer financing exemption (LIFE) private placement for gross proceeds of up to $1,700,000. The upsized offering is for up to 10,625,000 units of the company at a price of $0.16 per unit.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Luca Mining Corporation has successfully completed metallurgical test work for a new copper concentrate at its Campo Morado mine in Guerrero, resulting in the production of higher value copper, zinc, and lead concentrates. Ongoing improvements at Campo Morado have led to increased copper recovery and higher concentrate grades. Open circuit, bulk rougher results returned copper recovery of between 80 and 93%. Testing indicates that copper grades as high as 28% Cu are achievable compared to current grades of 15-18%Cu in the bulk concentrate. The company’s operations are poised for advancement following the successful test work.
  • Minera Alamos Inc., provided operational update on their Santana and Cerro de Oro properties located in Sonora and Zacatecas respectively, as well on the acquisition of Suaqui Verde property in Sonora.  The company discussed operational updates at the Santana project, Sonora, including plans to optimize leach pad capacity for increased gold production. While production was reduced, site preparation works including the conclusion of pre-stripping activities in advance of a transition to the Nicho Main deposit. An updated development plan for the project which was completed late in 2023 has now been initiated and includes increased mining and stacking of approximately 25K Oz Au over a 12-month period that will commence in May 2024. Additionally, it mentioned that the engineering work continues to progress in the Cerro de Oro project, Zacatecas to advance pre-development activities to coincide with the ultimate receipt of permits and a construction decision for the project. Included in 2024 will be further metallurgical optimization studies, detailed engineering design and additional exploration drilling aimed at filling in and potentially expanding the areas of know mineralization. The acquisition of the Suaqui Verde copper project in Sonora is noted as a significant development, allowing for internal engineering studies towards establishing a regional copper production “hub” by the combination of Los Verdes, Potreritos and Suaqui Verde properties, in the area where the company maintains a significant presence.
  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., Torex Gold provided a Q1, 2024 update on its Media Luna property in Guerrero. The company has made significant progress in procurement, with 78% completion, and underground development, with 94% of bolts placed for the Guajes conveyor. The project’s execution plan remains on track, with no changes to overall end dates. Electrical deliverables are a focus, with efforts to expedite purchase orders. The project is expected to achieve first copper concentrate production by year end and commercial production in early 2025, leading to positive cash flow by mid-next year. During Q1 2024 (currency expressed in US dollars), $126.4M was invested in the project. Expenditures are expected to remain above $100M through Q3 of this year, before declining in Q4 as the project nears completion. As at quarter end, $830.6M of expenditures had been committed (95%), including $617.4M incurred (71%). There has been no change to full-year guidance of $350 to $400M on project capital expenditures.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., provided an update on the ongoing pre-feasibility study drilling program on the Stockwork gold deposit on its El Tigre project in Sonora. The company has completed 23,500m of a 25,000m drilling program focused on expanding the Mineral Resource, up-grading the classification, completing metallurgical testwork and geotechnical studies as it progresses from an exploration to a development project. Drilling highlights include holes ET-23-541 with 0.52 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag (0.75 g/t AuEq or 56 g/t AgEq) over 79.5m, including 1.08 g/t Au and 8 g/t Ag (1.19 g/t AuEq and 89 g/t AgEq) over 26.5m, plus 0.14 g/t Au and 27 g/t Ag (0.5 g/t AuEq or 38 g/t AgEq) over 10.2m; hole ET-23-543 with 0.84 g/t Au and 28 g/t Ag (1.21 g/t AuEq or 91 g/t AgEq) over 40.2m, including 1.22 g/t Au and 38 g/t Ag (1.72 g/t AuEq or 129 g/t AgEq) over 23m; hole ET-23-548 with 0.62 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (0.67 g/t AuEq or 51 g/t AgEq) over 71m, including 1.32 g/t Au and 2 g/t Ag (1.36 g/t AuEq or 102 g/t AgEq) over 18.5m, plus 0.68 g/t Au and 1 g/t Ag (0.69 g/t AuEq or 52 g/t AgEq) over 11.3m; and hole ET-23-550 with 0.53 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag (0.67 g/t AuEq or 50 g/t AgEq over 21m. plus 0.9 g/t Au and 8 g/t Ag (0.94 g/t AuEq or 70 g/t AgEq9 over 81.1m.
  • Minera Alamos Inc., provided an update on its Cobre 4H Mexican subsidiary and copper assets, including the Los Verdes and Potreritos projects. The company aims to develop an independent copper entity in southern Sonora. The Los Verdes project’s PEA report highlights key economic figures and the potential impact of tungsten recovery. It has mineable resources of 7M tonnes of 0.67% Cu, 0.13% Mo, 0.07% W, and 5 g/t Ag, and reported a pre-tax net cash flow of $163M; a net present value (5%) of $113M; an internal rate of return of $34%; a mine life of 7 years; and a payback of 2.7 years. The acquisition of the Potreritos project area is discussed, with historic estimates and the possibility of incorporating its resources into the Los Verdes mining plans. Historic estimates for the Potreritos deposit include 1.4 M tonnes of indicated resources with grades of 0.47% Cu and 0.12% Mo; and 0.8 M tonnes of inferred resources with grades of 0.22% Cu and 0.033% Mo.
  • Xali Gold Corp., provided an update on the company´s activities in Mexico. At El Oro tailings project in Mexico State, Xali announced excellent potential for 75% recovery of the gold and silver using a new process being introduced by Kappes, Cassiday and Associates (KCA). “This process would allow the gold and silver to be produced in the form of Dore, which enhances the value of the royalty stream agreed with Xali Gold. Overall recoveries will need further testing to establish a better estimate for overall recoveries of gold and silver, but KCA is very optimistic about the process”. Additionally, Grupo Minero WIYA is modifying the SDA Plant in Nayarit in order to produce a single bulk concentrate production, and has commenced shipping mineralized material from their mine to the SDA Plant. Approximately 550 tonnes of mineralized rock has been received at the SDA Plant in preparation for the restart of the mill, once 1500 tonnes has been delivered. At El Oro Gold hard rock project, Xali Gold is in discussions with a local mining group to extract and process mineralized backfill from the historic San Rafael mine in Mexico State. The agreement would involve sharing profits from recovering gold and silver materials, while also providing underground access for drilling to explore new mineralized zones. Drilling from underground is more cost-effective than drilling from the surface due to the presence of up to 300m of volcanic rocks above the gold and silver veins. The historic mine has a significant production history of 5 million ounces of gold equivalent (4M Oz Au and 44M Oz Ag), indicating the potential for further mineralization at depth.

 ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Prismo Metals Inc., announced the appointment of its new President. This move will allow Co-Founder and former President & CEO, Dr. Craig Gibson to move into the role of Chief Exploration Officer (CXO) to focus more on the execution of field programs and exploration strategies (Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa).
  • Americas Gold and Silver Corporation announced the appointment of its new Chief Operating Officer, effective May 6, 2024 (Cosala mine, Sinaloa).
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd., has enhanced its financial position by signing a definitive agreement to sell Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. to WP Servicios Industriales S.A. de C.V. This transaction allows GR Silver to focus on resource growth and development of its core Plomosas Project in Sinaloa. The company will receive a 0.5% NSR Royalty on certain concessions as part of the deal. The CEO of GR Silver highlighted the positive impact on the company’s balance sheet and its ability to continue with its mining programs. WP’s Mining Division CEO expressed interest in potential cooperation with GR Silver in the region. The Plomosas Project holds significant silver resources, particularly in the San Marcial area, which is a key focus for exploration and potential development. Overall, the transaction is seen as a strategic move to strengthen GR Silver Mining’s financial position and operational focus.
  • Royalties Inc., announced advances on two of its major investments in Mexico. The company continues its lawsuit against Capstone Gold SA de CV to recognize the 2% NSR on the production since 2019 from five Portree claims on the Cozamin Mine, on which a lien has been registered, as well as monetizing its silver asset, the Bilbao silver-zinc-lead property in Zacatecas, Mexico, where the company has a 1.5% NSR.
  • Sonoran Desert Copper Corporation received a Management Cease Trade Order (MCTO) due to a delay in filing required financial documents for the year ended December 31, 2023. The company applied for the MCTO as an alternative to a general Cease Trade Order and is working with an auditor to rectify the default. The MCTO prohibits trading by specific company officials and individuals with access to undisclosed material information. If the required filings are not submitted by June 28, 2024, a general cease trade order may be imposed by the regulators. The company will provide bi-weekly default status reports until the issue is resolved.

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, quartz stockwork veining in an epithermal vein system in a project in Sinaloa, Mexico. Photo taken by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Third Week of April, 2024

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Quartz Vein with Sulphides

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 16th week of the year (April 15th to April 21st, 2024), at least 31 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with seven reporting resources and development of their properties, six  announcing financing rounds, six informing on exploration results, six communicating production results, five disclosing deals and corporate issues, and one commenting on Mexican issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Fortuna Silver, Prime Mining, Silver Tiger, Goldgroup, and Impact Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of April, 2024. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Tocvanhas discovered an expansive set of mineralized trends of veining and epithermal style alteration with elevated Au, Ag, As, Sb, Pb and Zn in its Greater Pilar gold-silver project, and Silver Spruce along with its JV partner Colibri announced the commencement of the 2024 drilling program at Diamante project. In Chihuahua, Kingsmen has reported high-grade samples from the Soledad II vein structure on the Las Coloradas project. In Sinaloa, Vizsla entered into an agreement to acquire two large claims comprising 10,667 hectares. In Durango, Silver Dollar reported surface sampling results from its Nora property. In Zacatecas, Defiance announced that it has delineated a high grade polymetallic and precious metal systems at its Lucita project. ON MINING, Bear Creek, Impact Silver, First Majestic, Avino, Gold Resource, and Sierra Metals reported production and/or financial results from their Mexican mine operations. ON FINANCING, Infinitum Copper announced completion of share consolidation and provided an update on private placement (La Adelita project, Sonora). Minaurum reported a brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $6M (Alamos Silver project, Sonora). Reyna Silver announced a non-brokered Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (LIFE) for gross proceeds of CAD $1M (Guigui and Batopilas projects, Chihuahua). Vortex increased its previously announced non-brokered private placement to up to $1.75M (Riqueza Marina and Zaachila projects, Oaxaca). Capitan Silver closed its private placement of common shares for gross proceeds of CAD $2M (Cruz de Plata project, Durango).  Tocvan filed an amendment and restated offering document in connection with its previously announced non-brokered private placement (Pilar project, Sonora). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Fortuna Silver reported drill results on its Yessi exploration program at the San Jose mine in Oaxaca.  Minera Alamos provided an operations update on its Santana mine in Sonora. Prime Mining reported generative drilling results from its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. Guanajuato Silver filed updated technical reports on SEDAR+ (Valenciana, San Ignacio, and El Cubo in Guanajuato and Topia in Durango). Silver Tiger provided an update on the pre-feasibility study drilling program on the Stockwork gold deposit on its El Tigre project in Sonora. Goldgroup reported drill results from its Cerro Prieto property, Sonora. Impact Silver reported results from its ongoing drilling program at the Tres Amigos Zone at its Plomosas mine, Chihuahua.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Quetzal Copper announced the acquisition of Las Cristinas project, Chihuahua. Xali signed a letter of intent to enter a purchase agreement with Kappes, Cassiday & Associates on the Mexican Mine Tailings Reprocessing Project at El Oro in Mexico State. Solaris Resources received approval to list its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (La Verde property, Michoacan). Silver Bull reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Sierra Mojada project, Coahuila). Endeavour announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Directors (Terronera, Jalisco).  ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Fortuna Silver, Prime Mining, Silver Tiger Metals Inc., Goldgroup, and Impact Silver reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the third week of April, 2024. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Tocvan Ventures Corp., has discovered an expansive set of mineralized trends and an area of 1,500m by 800m of veining and epithermal style alteration with elevated Au, Ag, As, Sb, Pb and Zn in its Greater Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora. The sampling has identified the source rocks for placer mining activity and expanded the known footprint of mineralization of the Greater Pilar system. Highlights from sampling include 7.3 g/t Au with 177 g/t Ag; 5.5 g/t Au with 80 g/t Ag; and 1.8 g/t Au with 389 g/t Ag. The area has seen no previous systematic exploration and remains open to the east and the north. The company plans to evaluate these areas and prepare a drilling plan to test the targets. The Pilar property is interpreted as a structurally controlled low-sulfidation epithermal system hosted in andesite rocks that has returned some of the region’s best drill results.
  • Silver Spruce Resources Inc., along with its JV partner Colibri Resource Corporation announced the commencement of the 2024 drilling program at Diamante project in Sonora. It will test the Pillado polymetallic target and will consist of 1,050m in ten core holes.
  • Kingsmen Resources Ltd., has reported high-grade samples from the Soledad II vein structure on the Las Coloradas project in Chihuahua, detecting both gold and silver mineralization. A total of 32 residual mineralization samples were tested, with four areas of “high-grade silver mineralization” detected on the main Soledad II structure and one on a NE-cross structure. Highlights include 9 samples with > 300 g/t AgEq;  4 > 200 g/t AgEq;  3 > 100 g/t AgEq; and  8 > 0.58 g/t Au. The mineralization is likely to extend below a water table at a depth of around 125 metres, and blind extensions to the existing mineralized structures and new structures could be probable at depth.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., entered into an agreement to acquire El Richard and San Enrique (San Enrique prospect), two large claims comprising 10,667 hectares located south and partially adjacent to the company’s Panuco project in Sinaloa. The area shows promising geological features such as dome complexes, quartz veining, and breccias. With preliminary geophysical surveys completed, Vizsla Silver plans to conduct further exploration activities to aid in drill targeting. This acquisition aligns with the company’s strategy to expand its presence in the Sinaloa Silver Belt and enhance its exploration portfolio. The San Enrique prospect offers significant upside potential and complements Vizsla Silver’s existing projects in the region, positioning the company as a key player in silver exploration and development in Mexico. Pursuant to the acquisition agreement, the company has agreed to issue an aggregate of USD $650K in common shares in the capital of the company, at the exchange rate and market price applicable on the effective date, plus any applicable value added tax to the seller.
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., reported surface sampling results from its Nora property in Durango. Highlights include twenty one samples grading over > 100 g/t Ag; ten samples > 200 g/t Ag; four samples > 500 g/t Ag; and two samples > 1,000 g/t Ag. Sample R-053 returned 29.61 g/t Au over 0.35m, confirming the presence of high-grade gold in the Candy vein structure. Sample RM-1009 returned 2,215 g/t Ag over 0.8m, and sample RM-1013 retuned 1,212 g/t Ag over 1m, confirming the presence of high-grade silver in the Candy vein structure. Five samples returned grades > 1% Cu, with two > 3% Cu. Elevated levels of Zn (seven samples > 1% Zn) and Pb (twenty samples > 1% Pb) are also encouraging as they seem to be the best pathfinders for geochemistry.
  • Defiance Silver Corp., announced that it has delineated a high grade polymetallic and precious metal systems at its Lucita project in Zacatecas. Lucita North showcases polymetallic mineralization with high-grade silver and anomalous to high-grade lead, zinc, gold, and copper. The Gloria-Aurora-Plomosa system is a key target due to its significant surface geochemical anomalies. Individual surface sampling highlights include Gloria Zone sample 430012 with 331 g/t Ag, 0.15 Au, 6.9% Pb, 14.7% Zn, and 0.35% Cu; sample 430009 with 552 g/t Ag and 1.34% Pb; Aurora Zone sample 430179 with 298 g/t Ag, 3.15% Pb, and 0.1% Zn; sample 430027 with 795 g/t Ag; Plomosa Zone sample 430106 with 652 g/t Ag, 0.32 g/t Au, 6.5% Pb, 2.3% Zn, and 0.0% Cu; Lucero Vein sample 110785: 460 g/t Ag, 4.76 g/t Au, 6.3% Pb, 31.5 % Zn, and 0.87% Cu. Lucita South features low-sulfidation epithermal vein systems with high-grade silver and gold. Individual surface sampling highlights include Paty Vein sample 4208 with 2,350 g/t Ag and 0.27 Au; Lucita Vein sample 110895 with 497 g/t Ag and 1.28 g/t Au; and Palenque Vein sample 110834 with 712 g/t Ag and 0.26 g/t Au.

ON MINING

  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation reported Q1, 2024 production results from its Mercedes mine in Sonora. The company mined 106,365 tonnes and processed 109,880 tonnes of 3.69 g/t Au with metallurgical recoveries of 94% to produce 12,128 Oz Au and 44,040 Oz Ag.
  • Impact Silver Corp., reported year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Zacualpan mining district, Mexico State and Plomosas mine, Chihuahua. At Zacualpan mining district, the company milled 147,444 tonnes of 160 g/t Ag to produce 637,514 Oz Ag and sold 636,655 Oz Ag and 780 Oz Au. It reported revenue of $136.62 per tonne sold and direct costs of $130.58 per production tonne. At Plomosas, the company reported 3,744 tonnes of 13.8% Zn during Q4, 2024 after acquiring the mine and reported revenue of $141.51 per tonne milled. Impact also reported 2023 consolidated results reporting $20-8M in revenue; an operation loss of 0.6M; after investing exploration expenditures of $8.5M; and net loss of $7.6M. The company has no long-term debt.
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., announced Q1, 2024 production results from their Mexican mines. The table below shows mine by mine production:

The company is planning to release its first quarter 2024 unaudited financial results and announce details regarding its first quarter dividend payment on May 8, 2024.

  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., reported Q1, 2024 production results from its Avino mine, Durango. The company milled 169,595 tonnes of 52 g/t Ag, 0.47 g/t Au, and 0.43% Cu with metallurgical recoveries of 88%,70%, and 84% respectively, to produce 250.&K Oz Ag, 1,788 Oz Au, and 1.35M Lb Cu (629.3K Oz AgEq).
  • Gold Resource Corporation announced Q1, 2024 production results from its Arista mine, Oaxaca. The company milled 116,616 tonnes of 2.51 g/t Au, 109 g/t Ag, 0.45% Cu, 1.6% Pb, and 4.3% Zn to produce 7,676 Oz Au, 370,768 Oz Ag, 909,400 Lb Cu, 2,963,520 Lb Pb, and 9,403,520 Lb Zn and sold 3,557 Oz Au, 216,535 Oz Ag, 501,360 Lb Cu, 1,494,080 Lb Pb, and 3.767,680 Lb Zn at average metal prices realized of USD $2,094 per Oz Au, USD $23 per Oz Ag, USD $8,546 per tonne Cu, USD $1,977 per tonne Pb, and USD $2,482 per tonne Zn.
  • Sierra Metals Inc., reported Q1, 2024 production results from its Bolivar mine in Chihuahua. The company processed 398,230 tonnes of 0.98% Cu, 20 g/t Ag, and 0.47 g/t Au with metallurgical recoveries of 92.66%, 81.46%, and 66.54% respectively to produce 7.96M Lb Cu, 204K Oz Ag, and 4K Oz Au.

ON FINANCING

  • Infinitum Copper Corp., announced completion of share consolidation and provided an update on private placement. Infinitum Copper Corp. has successfully completed a share consolidation, with a ratio of two pre-consolidation common shares for one post-consolidation common share. This consolidation will reduce the total number of outstanding common shares from 74,563,040 to approximately 37,281,520. The move aims to enhance the company’s flexibility and attractiveness to a wider investor base. The company’s securities will trade under the symbol “INFI” on the TSX Venture Exchange, signifying increased market appeal. Additionally, the company will provide further updates on its private placement following the consolidation (La Adelita project, Sonora).
  • Minaurum Gold Inc., reported a brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $6M from the sale of 24M units of the company at a price of CAD $0.25 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share of the company and one half of one common share purchase warrant. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to complete a National Instrument 43-101 resource at the Alamos Silver project, to continue exploration drilling and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
  • Reyna Silver Corp., announced a non-brokered Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (LIFE) for gross proceeds of up to CAD $1M from the sale of 6.25M units at a price of CAD $0.16 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share of the company and one common share purchase warrant. Part of the gross proceeds will be used for the exploration of Guigui and Batopilas projects, Chihuahua. 
  • Vortex Metals Inc., increased its previously announced non-brokered private placement to up to $1.75M from the sale of 19,444,444 units at a price of $0.09 per unit. Each unit will be comprised of one common share in the capital of the company and one-half of one non-transferable common share purchase warrant (Riqueza Marina and Zaachila projects, Oaxaca).
  • Capitan Silver Corp., closed its private placement of common shares for gross proceeds of CAD $2,020,000 from the sale of 13,466,667 shares at a price of CAD $0.15 per share. Gross proceeds will be used to continue to advance the Cruz de Plata gold-silver project in Durango, evaluate potential acquisitions as well as to fund working capital and general corporate expenses.
  • Tocvan Ventures Corp, filed an amendment and restated offering document in connection with its previously announced non-brokered private placement pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106. The amended document was redated after the company addressed regulatory comments regarding available working capital. The company expects to close the offering within the upcoming days, subject to obtaining all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals. 

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., reported drill results on its Yessi exploration program at the San Jose mine in Oaxaca. Drilling highlights (true width reported) include holes SJO-1444 with 6.68 g/t Au and 793 g/t Ag (1,327 g/t AgEq) over 3m, including 27.15 g/t Au and 2,963 g/t Ag (5,135 g/t AgEq) over 0.3m; hole SJO-1447 with 1.41 g/t Au and 182 g/t Ag (295 g/t AgEq) over 4.8m, including 1.62 g/t Au and 244 g/t Ag (374 g/t AgEq) over 0.65m, including 5.76 g/t Au and 880 g/t Ag (1,341 g/t AgEq) over 0.50m; hole SJO-1455A with 0.9 g/t Au and 107 g/t Ag (179 g/t AgEq) over 17.5m, including 1.25 g/t Au and 135 g/t Ag (236 g/t AgEq) over 7.7m, plus 1.73 g/t Au and 196 g/t Ag (335 g/t AgEq) over 2m, including 2.89 g/t Au and 335 g/t Ag (366 g/t AgEq) over 1m, plus 1.22 g/t Au and 162 g/t Ag (260 g/t AgEq) over 1.1m, including 7.21 g/t Au and 417 g/t Ag (1,494 g/t AgEq) over 0.1m; hole SJO-1458 with 2.11 g/t Au and 284 g/t g (453 g/t AgEq) over 4.8m, including 2.61 g/t Au and 285 g/t Ag (494 g/t AgEq) over 0.4m, including 4.32 g/t Au and 644 g/t Ag (990 g/t AgEq) over 0.7m, including 4.59 g/t Au and 508 g/t Ag (875 g/t AgEq) over 0.7m, including 3.19 g/t Au and 478 /t Ag (733 g/t AgEq) over 0.8m; and hole SJO-1460 with 1.16 g/t Au and 98 g/t Ag (191 g/t AgEq) over 1,3m, plus 6.29 g/t Au and 533 g/t Ag (1,036 g/t AgEq) over 8.10m, including 3.67 g/t Au and 531 g/t Ag (825 g/t AgEq) over 1m, including 18.41 g/t Au and 1,437 g/t Ag (2,910 g/t AgEq) over 2.4m. “Drilling on the Yessi vein has continued with the dual objectives of firstly testing for the limits of the Yessi vein and secondly infilling the drill spacing to support initial resource estimation and mining studies”.
  • Minera Alamos Inc., provided an operations update on its Santana mine in Sonora. The company is progressing with the operational ramp-up at its Santana gold mine in Sonora, Mexico. The contractor has mobilized at the mine site, preparing for mining activity at the Nicho Main zone. Equipment maintenance and road preparation are underway to enhance operational flexibility. New sampling procedures and controls are being implemented to optimize conditions for the Nicho Main zone, with a focus on maximizing gold recoveries. The company is also testing a new dust suppressant system to improve air quality and reduce water consumption. Overall, the mining plans at the Nicho Main zone aim to increase mining and stacking activities, with initial benefits expected in Q3 of 2024.
  • Prime Mining Corp., reported drilling results from its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. These results are from 2024 drilling at the Las Primas generative target. Highlights include (true widths reported) holes 24LP-30 with 0.8 g/t Au and 75 g/t Ag (1.77 g/t AuEq) over 9.6m, including 1.73 g/t Au and 182 g/t Ag (4.08 g/t AuEq) over 2.8m, plus 1.09 g/t Au and 96 g/t Ag (2.33 g/t AuEq) over 2.2m, including 1.49 g/t Au and 129 g/t Ag (3.16 g/t AuEq) over 1.3m, plus 1.26 g/t Au and 75 g/t Ag (2.23 g/t AuEq) over 5.7m, including 4.99 g/t Au and 278 g/t Ag (8.59 g/t AuEq) over 1.2m, plus 2.22 g/t Au and 187 g/t Ag (4.64 g/t AuEq) over 3m, plus 4.07 g/t Au and 598 g/t Ag (11.81 g/t AuEq) over 3m, including 6.77 g/t Au and 1,007 g/t Ag (19.8 g/t AuEq) over 1.7m; hole 24LP-33 with 0.58 g/t Au and 53 g/t Ag (1.27 g/t AuEq) over 7m, including 1.6 g/t Au and 201 g/t Ag (4.2 g/t AuEq) over 1.6m, plus 1.44 g/t Au and 153 g/t Ag (3.42 g/t AuEq) over 9.4m, including 1.94 g/t Au and 196 g/t Ag (4.48 g/t AuEq) over 5m, and including 1.57 g/t Au and 201 g/t Ag (4.17 g/t AuEq) over 1.5m, plus 0.92 g/t Au and 80 g/t Ag (1.96 g/t AuEq) over 5.7m, including 2.63 g/t Au and 245 g/t Ag (5.8 g/t AuEq) over 1.6m, plus 0.68 g/t Au and 76 g/t Ag (1.67 g/t AuEq) over 3.8m, including 1.31 g/t Au and 148 g/t Ag (3.23 g/t AuEq) over 1.5; hole 24LP-24 with 0.83 g/t Au and 71 g/t Ag (1.75 g/t AuEq) over 3.7m; and hole 24LP-28 with 1.21 g/t Au and 42 g/t Ag (1.75 g/t AuEq) over 3.8m, including 1.78 g/t Au and 75 g/t Ag (2.75 g/t AuEq) over 2.1m.
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., filed updated National Instrument 43-101 technical reports on SEDAR+. The updated technical reports cover the Valenciana, San Ignacio, and El Cubo in Guanajuato, and Topia in Durango.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., provided an update on the pre-feasibility study drilling program on the Stockwork gold deposit on its El Tigre project in Sonora. Drilling highlights include holes ET-23-527 with 0.55 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag (0.78 g/t AuEq or 58 g/t AgEq) over 74m, including 0.90 g/t Au and 96 g/t Ag (2.19 g/t AuEq or 164 g/t AgEq) over 9.2m, including 1.04 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag (1.11 g/t AuEq or 83 g/t AgEq) over 25.2m; hole ET-23-529 with 0.91 g/t Au and 6 g/t Ag (0.99 g/t AuEq or 74 g/t AgEq) over 42.5m, including 1.09 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag (1.18 g/t AuEq or 89 g/t AgEq) over 33m, including 1.57 g/t Au and 1 g/t Ag (1.58 g/t AuEq or 119 g/t AgEq) over 8m, including 1.27 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag (1.42 g/t AuEq or 106 g/t AgEq) over 18m; hole ET-23-530 with 0.51 g/t Au and 2 g/t Ag (0.54 g/t AuEq or 41 g/t AgEq) over 10.9m, plus 0.68 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag (0.73 g/t AuEq or 55 g/t AgEq) over 56.9m, including 0.86 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag (0.92 g/t AuEq or 69 g/t AgEq) over 27.7m, including 0.93 g/t Au and 6 g/t Ag (1.01 g/t AuEq or 76 g/t AgEq) over 18.7m; and hole ET-23-18 with 0.69 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag (0.76 g/t AuEq or 57 g/t AgEq) over 19m, plus 0.40 g/t Au and 2 g/t Ag (0.43 g/t AuEq or 32 g/t AgEq) over 35m, plus 0.07 g/t Au and 67 g/t Ag (0.96 g/t AuEq or 72 g/t AgEq) over 16.9m, including 0.2 g/t Au and 487 g/t Ag (6.7 g/t AuEq or 502 g/t AgEq) over 2m, and 0.08 g/t Au and 102 g/t Ag (1.44 g/t AuEq or 108 g/t AgEq) over 3m. Silver Tiger has completed 23,000m of a 25,000m drilling program focused on expanding the Mineral Resource, up-grading the classification, completing metallurgical test work and geotechnical studies as it progresses from an exploration to a development project. The pre-feasibility study progress is on schedule for publication in H2-2024.
  • Goldgroup Mining Inc., reported drill results from its Cerro Prieto property in Sonora. To date there are 17 core holes in Nueva Esperanza Zone, of which 8 core holes have no economic value. Drilling highlights are shown in the table below:
  • Impact Silver Corp., reported results from its ongoing drilling program at the Tres Amigos Zone at its Plomosas mine, Chihuahua. Drilling highlights include holes TASC-24-28 with 10.2% Zn, 0.5% Pb, and 8 g/t Ag over 8.6m, including 14.7% Zn, 0.7% Pb, and 11 g/t Ag over 5.5m, including 23.6% Zn, 0.8% Pb, and 15 g/t Ag over 2.6m, including 30.1% Zn, 0.9% Pb, and 14 g/t Ag over 1.1m; hole TASC-24-29 with 10.5% Zn, 5.5% Pb, and 32 g/t Ag over 1.85m, including 17.9% Zn, 10.2% Pb and 5 g/t Ag over 1.5m; and hole TASC-24-32 with 4.2% Zn, 2.4% Pb, and 13 g/t Ag over 11.7m, including 30.1% Zn, 18% Pb, and 84 g/t Ag over 0.8m. “The Tres Amigos Zone remains open for expansion and drilling is continuing. High priority targets have been identified for drilling elsewhere on the property”.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Quetzal Copper Corp., announced the acquisition of Las Cristinas project, Chihuahua. The company entered into an agreement with Polaris Resources S.A. de C.V. (Property Vendors), to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Polaris and must make a USD $50K payment to Polaris by April 9, 2025. Quetzal will also assume the responsibility to make the underlying option payments on the Cristinas Project to the Property Vendors as follows: (i) cash payments of USD $100K on each of May 12, 2024, May 12, 2025, and May 12, 2026, to the Vendors; (ii) the issuance of USD $500K worth of common shares of Quetzal on each of May 12, 2025, May 12, 2026, and May 12, 2027, to the Vendors; and (iii) complete USD $1M in exploration on the Cristinas Project on or before December 31, 2025. 
  • Xali Gold Corp., signed a letter of intent (LOI) to enter a purchase agreement with Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) on the Mexican Mine Tailings Reprocessing Project at El Oro in Mexico State. In order to earn 100% interest in the El Oro Tailings Project, KCA has agreed to pay Xali Gold USD $25K on signing; an additional USD $25K three months after signing the LOI agreement; and USD $!00K six months after signing the LOI agreement. This agreement entails royalty payments, with KCA paying Xali Gold a gross royalty of 4% of sales income from gold and silver produced, with the option to buy a 1% royalty for USD $1M. KCA will also make minimum royalty payments until a total of USD $1M has been paid to Xali Gold. Additionally, KCA will pay the Municipality of El Oro an 8% Net Profits Interest on production. The project contains significant inferred resources of gold and silver. The agreement allows Xali Gold to pay outstanding mineral rights fees and fund exploration at the El Oro Project.
  • Solaris Resources Inc., received approval to list its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “SLSR”. Concurrent with the start of trading on the NYSE, the company’s common shares will cease trading on the OTCQB Venture Market (La Verde property, Michoacan).
  • Silver Bull Resources Inc., reported results from its annual general meeting of shareholders (Sierra Mojada project, Coahuila).
  • Endeavour Silver Corp., announced the nomination of a new member to its Board of Directors (Terronera, Jalisco).

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, quartz vein in an intermediate sulphidation epithermal vein system in a project in Sonora, Mexico. Photo taken by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the First Week of April, 2024

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Chalcedonic quartz in a hot spring system

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 14th week of the year (April 1st to April 7th, 2024), at least 26 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with nine announcing financing rounds, eight disclosing deals and corporate issues, five reporting resources and development of their projects, two communicating production results, one commenting on Mexican issues, and one informing on exploration results.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Silver Tiger reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of April, 2024. ON EXPLORATION, In Chihuahua, Kootenay announced that drilling is underway for its Q1/Q2 diamond drilling campaign at its Columba project. ON MINING, Alamos announced that it plans to release its Q1, 2024 financial results on Wednesday 24, 2024 (Mulatos mine, Sonora). Guanajuato Silver reported consolidated production results for Q1, 2024 from their Mexican mining operations. ON FINANCING, Alamos and Argonaut closed their previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds to Argonaut of CAD $50M. GR Silver has successfully closed a settlement agreement with Mako, receiving a total payment of USD $960K. Prismo has completed its debt settlement with certain creditors of the company by issuing an aggregate of 2,833,690 common shares at a price of $0.17 per common share (Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa). Silver Viper announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $4M (La Virginia project, Sonora). Sonoro Gold closed the final tranche of its over-subscribed non-brokered private placement for additional gross proceeds of CAD $616,079 (Cerro Caliche project, Sonora). Orion has entered into a block trade agreement, selling 62,400,000 CHESS depository interests (CDIs) over the common shares of Capstone Copper Corp. at a price of A $9.50 per CDI, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately A$ 592,800,000. Silver Storm closed the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $1.47M, the same that later on was increased to up to $3M (La Parrilla mine, Durango).  ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Discovery Silver filed its NI 43-101 technical report & Feasibility Study on its Cordero Silver Project, Chihuahua. Tocvan and JV Colibri restarted drilling at Pilar project, Sonora. Silver Tiger provided an update on its Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) mineral resource drilling program at its El Tigre Project in Sonora. First Majestic reported 2023 Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource Estimate. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Almaden confirmed delisting from NYSE American Stock Exchange and listing on OTCBQ marketplace (Ixtaca project, Puebla). Alamos announced that it will hold its annual general and special meeting of shareholders on Thursday May 23, 2024 (Mulatos mine, Sonora). Equinox reported that it will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders on Thursday, May 9, 2024 (Los Filos mine, Guerrero). Infinitum Copper announced the details of a proposed consolidation of its common shares (Adelita project, Sonora).  Luca Mining announced the appointment of its Vice President Finance (Campo Morado mine, Guerrero). Pantera Silver announced that it closed the amended agreement with respect to its right to acquire 100% ownership of the Nuevo Taxco property in Guerrero. Sierra Metals notified its intention to list on the Lima Stock Exchange (Bolivar mine, Chihuahua). Vizsla announced that it has granted 318,000 restricted share units to an officer of the company (Panuco project, Sinaloa). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the first week of April, 2024. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Kootenay Silver Inc. announced that drilling is underway for its Q1/Q2 diamond drilling campaign at its Columba project, Chihuahua. The proposed program includes 15-17 drillholes for a combined 5,000m and is designed to expand upon previous intercepts along the highly prospective D-Vein target. The current drilling program is designed to extend the D-Vein in preparation of a follow up program of likely 15,000 meters, aimed to delineate a maiden resource expected in late 2024 which is dependent on additional drilling beyond the 5000-meter program and the financing it requires. The first assay results are expected in 4 to 6 weeks time.

ON MINING

  • Alamos Gold Inc., announced that it plans to release its Q1, 2024 financial results on Wednesday 24, 2024 (Mulatos mine, Sonora).
  • Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd. reported consolidated production results for Q1, 2024 from their Mexican mining operations (El Cubo, Valenciana and san Ignacio mine in Guanajuato; Horcon mine in Jalisco; and Topia mine in Durango). The company mined 167,287 tonnes and milled 165,079 tonnes to produce 428,279 Oz Ag, 5,384 Oz Au, 879,242 Lb Pb, and 922,297 Lb Zn (987,312 Oz AgEq).

ON FINANCING

  • Alamos Gold Inc. and Argonaut Gold Inc. closed their previously announced non-brokered private placement pursuant to which Alamos subscribed for 174,825,175 common shares of Argonaut, representing approximately 13.8% of Argonaut’s total outstanding common shares after giving effect to the private placement. The acquired shares were acquired at a price of CAD $0.286 per share, for gross proceeds to Argonaut of CAD $50M.
  • GR Silver Mining Ltd. has successfully closed a settlement agreement with Mako Mining Corp., receiving a total payment of USD $960K. This amount was satisfied by cash payment of USD $500K and the issuance of 296,710 common shares of Mako at a deemed price of %2.1007 per share (USD $460K or CAD $623,300). The shares will be subject to a four-month regulatory hold period from the date of issuance.
  • Prismo Metals Inc. has completed its debt settlement with certain creditors of the company by issuing an aggregate of 2,833,690 common shares at a price of $0.17 per common share to the creditors in full and final settlement of accrued and outstanding indebtedness. The company has also completed its previously announced non-brokered private placement for one subscription of 754,411 units of the company at a price of $0.17 per unit for total gross proceeds of CAD $128,250 (Palos Verdes project, Sinaloa).
  • Silver Viper Minerals Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $4M, at a price of $0.10 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share of the corporation and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional share at a price of $0.15 per share for a period of thirty-six months from its date of issue. The company intends to use the minimum net proceeds of $2M from the offering for working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes which includes legal and financing fees as part of this offering, and the final USD $200K option payment on its La Virginia Project due in June 2024. Any additional net proceeds from the Offering will be used to continue surface exploration including mapping and sampling as well as a drill campaign at the La Virginia Project, Sonora.
  • Sonoro Gold Corp. closed the final tranche of its over-subscribed non-brokered private placement for additional gross proceeds of CAD $616,079. Gross proceeds will be used to fund the ongoing development of the Company’s Cerro Caliche gold project in Sonora project.
  • Orion Fund JV Limited, Orion Mine Finance Fund II LP and Orion Mine Finance have entered into a block trade agreement, selling 62,400,000 CHESS depository interests (CDIs) over the common shares of Capstone Copper Corp. at a price of A $9.50 per CDI, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately A$ 592,800,000. The Secondary Offering is expected to close on or about April 9, 2024 (Pacific Time). 
  • Silver Storm Mining Ltd. closed the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $1.47M, the same that later on was increased to up to $3M at a price of 0.11 per unit. The company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to advance drilling at its La Parrilla mine, to perform technical studies for a potential restart in 2025, and to fund ongoing operations.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Discovery Silver Corp., filed its NI 43-101 Technical Report & Feasibility Study dated February 16, 2024 on its Cordero Silver Project, Chihuahua.
  • Tocvan Ventures Corp. and JV Colibri Resource Corporation restarted drilling at Pilar project, Sonora. All past data has been reviewed in order to determine the most effective use of drill meters for the upcoming campaign. A plan to drill 7,000m has been designed, including 4,000m of infill drilling within known areas of mineralization and 3,000m of step-out and exploration drilling on drill areas with known mineralization and/or strong surface geochemistry suggesting highly prospective targets. “The outcome of the proposed drilling will go into the definition of a maiden resource estimate for the Pilar Main Zone, providing an important building block for the company”.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., provided an update on its Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) mineral resource drilling program at its El Tigre Project in Sonora. Silver Tiger has completed 22,000m of the 25,000m drilling program with promising results, including the high grade Keel zone. The company aims to expand the Mineral Resource and enhance the classification of the Stockwork gold deposit, completing metallurgical testwork and geotechnical studies as it progresses from an exploration to a development project. The value-added PFS progress is on schedule for publication in H2-2024. The company also announced a new set of assay results from 40 drill holes. Drilling highlights are shown in the table below:
  • First Majestic Silver Corp. reported 2023 Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource Estimate. Figures are shown in the tables below:

Mineral Resource Estimates are inclusive of the Mineral Reserve Estimates.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Almaden Minerals Ltd., confirmed delisting from NYSE American Stock Exchange and listing on OTCBQ Marketplace in the US under symbol “AAUAF” (Ixtaca project, Puebla).
  • Alamos Gold Inc., announced that it will hold its annual general and special meeting of shareholders on Thursday May 23, 2024 (Mulatos mine, Sonora).
  • Equinox Gold Corp., reported that it will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders on Thursday, May 9, 2024 (Los Filos mine, Guerrero).
  • Infinitum Copper Corp., announced the details of a proposed consolidation of its common shares. Infinitum Copper Corp. It proposed a 2:1 share consolidation, aiming to enhance future financing opportunities and streamline operations. The consolidation will reduce the total number of common shares from 74,563,040 to 37,281,520, with no fractional shares issued (Adelita project, Sonora).
  • Luca Mining Corp., announced the appointment of its Vice President Finance, starting April 1, 2024 (Campo Morado mine, Guerrero).
  • Pantera Silver Corp., announced that it closed the amended agreement with respect to its right to acquire 100% ownership of the Nuevo Taxco property in Guerrero. Under amended terms, Pantera will issue 1.5M common shares in lieu of making a $150K final cash payment. A final share payment of 2M common shares will be due October 30th, 2024. Under the amended terms, the vendor has the option to accept the 2M shares or $150K cash plus 500K common shares. In addition, under the amended terms, all work commitments in the first two years of the original agreement have been met and any short fall has been waived. The timeline for completing the final work commitment of $800K has been extended to be completed by October30th, 2025.
  • Sierra Metals Inc., notified its intention to list on the Lima Stock Exchange. The process is expected to take up to four months to complete (Bolivar mine, Chihuahua).
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., announced that it has granted 318,000 restricted share units (RSU) to an officer of the company. The RSUs will vest in three equal annual installments commencing on the first anniversary of the grant date (Panuco project, Sinaloa).

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, chalcedonic quartz in a hot spring system in a project in Queretaro, Mexico. Photo taken by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Fourth Week of February, 2024

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Rhyolite dike showing flow banded texture

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 8th week of the year (February 19th to February 25th, 2024), at least 29 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, with ten communicating production results, eight reporting resources and developments of their projects, five disclosing deals and corporate issues, four announcing financing issues, one commenting on Mexican issues, and one  informing on exploration results.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Orla Mining, Silver Storm, and Prismo Metals reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the fourth week of February, 2024. ON EXPLORATION, In Sonora, Prismo provided an exploration update on its Pavitos project. ON MINING, Aura reported Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Aranzazu mine in Zacatecas, and provided guidance for 2024. Gatos Silver announced Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Cerro Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua, and provided 2024 guidance. Capstone released Q4, 2023 production results from its Cozamin mine, Zacatecas. Alamos Gold announced Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Mulatos mine, Sonora. Coeur reported Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua.  Equinox provided 2024 production guidance for its Los Filos mine, Guerrero. Minera Alamos announced 2024 operational outlook for its Santana mine in Sonora. Torex reported Q4 and year-end 2023 production results from its El Limon-Guajes Mine Complex, Guerrero. First Majestic announced Q3 and year-end production and financial results from their Mexican operations. SilverCrest provided 2024 production guidance for its Las Chispas mine, Sonora. ON FINANCING, Kootenay closed the final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $237.5K to complete a total aggregate gross proceeds of $3.7M (Columba project, Chihuahua). Oroco announced the closing of a non-brokered private placement for net proceeds of $1M (Santo Tomas project, Sinaloa). Sonoran Dessert declared that in response to the continuing weakness in the junior resource sector, the company will be reducing the price and increasing the amount of its private placement financing. Vizsla announced $30M bought deal financing (Panuco project, Sinaloa). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Vizsla filed an independent technical report containing an updated Mineral Resource Estimate on its Panuco project in Sinaloa. Luca reported significant improvements at its Campo Morado mine, Guerrero. Alamos Gold reported Mineral Resources and Reserves at its Mulatos mine operation in Sonora, as of December 31, 2023. Silver Storm released results from three holes drilled at its la Parrilla mine in Durango. Silver Tiger provided an update on the Company’s ongoing Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) drilling program on the Stockwork Gold Deposit on its El Tigre Project in Sonora. Orla discovered new style of mineralization at its Camino Rojo project in Zacatecas and recent drilling extended mineralization beyond the current mineral resource envelope, presenting a considerable opportunity for resource expansion. Prime Mining provided a summary of the 2023 exploration activities and  released the final 2023 drilling results for its Los Reyes Gold-Silver Project in Sinaloa. Discovery Silver announced results from the Feasibility Study (FS) on its Cordero project, Chihuahua.  ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Trident Royalties Plc, in a joint venture with Sonoroy Holdings Limited, is acquiring a 3.0% Gross Revenue Royalty over the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico. Bear Creek announced the resignation of its CEO effective March 8, 2024, and later on appointed its successor (Mercedes mine, Sonora). DynaResource announced the resignation of two Directors and appointed two new members to its Board of Directors. The resignations and appointments are effective February 16, 2024 (San Jose de Gracia project, Sinaloa).  Tarachi notified that its CEO was elected to the Board of Directors (Magistral Mill & Tailings project, Durango). ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Orla Mining Ltd., Silver Storm Mining Ltd., and Prismo Metals Inc., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the fourth week of February, 2024. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Prismo Metals Inc., provided an exploration update on its Pavitos project in Sonora. Prismo Metals has reported positive results from its ongoing exploration program at Los Pavitos, a 5,300 ha Project in southern Sonora State, Mexico. The 2023 exploration program included geologic mapping, sampling, and drilling that resulted in identifying 5 structures and positive results from 4 widely-spaced structures. The best results from the drilling were 2.6 g/t Gold over 0.5m and 1.18 g/t Gold over 0.5m at the Las Auras and Oromuri structures. In addition, a new zone with several structures was identified and sampled in the previously unexplored northeastern portion of the project area. Surface sampling along the northeastern projection of the gold and silver-rich Santa Cruz structure yielded high silver assay of 1,130 g/t Ag, with 1.33 g/t Au over 0.15 meters. Based on the exploration results, Los Pavitos gold footprint has grown 2.5 km to the northeast and silver footprint also grew 1 km.

ON MINING

  • Aura Minerals Inc., reported Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Aranzazu mine in Zacatecas, and provided guidance for 2024. In Q4, 2023, the company produced at its Aranzazu mine 26,532 Gold Equivalent Ounces (GEO), for a total of 106,119 GEO. It also provided guidance for 2024 and estimate to produce between 94K-108K GEO at cash and all in sustaining costs of USD $826-1008 and USD $1,089-1,331 per Oz Au produced respectively.
  • Gatos Silver Inc., announced Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Cerro Los Gatos mine, Chihuahua and provided 2024 guidance (the reported currency is USDS $). The company has a 70% interest in the Los Gatos JV. Los Gatos JV (100% basis) milled in Q4, 2023 a total of 277,318 tonnes of 318 g/t Ag, 3.9% Zn, 1.9% Pb, and 0.3 g/t Au to produce 2.6M Oz Ag, 14.6M Lb Zn, 10.2M Lb Pb, and 1.4K Oz Au (3.9M Oz AgEq) at cash and all in sustaining costs of $11.26 and $14.73 per Oz AgEq respectively ($6.02 and  $11.12 per Oz Ag). In the 2023 full year, the company milled a total of 1,071,400 tonnes of 299 g/t Ag, 3.9% Zn, 1.8% Pb, and 0.29 g/t Au to produce 9.2M Oz Ag, 57.3M Lb Zn, 38.9M Lb Pb, and 5.3K Oz Au (14.3M Oz AgEq) at cash and all in sustaining costs of $12.11 and $15.51 per Oz AgEq respectively ($6.31 and $11.33 per Oz Ag). Gatos Silver also reported for the period Q4, 2023 revenue of $73.5M; cost of sales of $28M; net income of $24.9M; EBIDTA of $38.6M; cash from operating activities of $38.2M; sustaining capital of $11.7M; and free cash flow of $22.3M. For the 2023 year full it reported revenue of $268.7M; cost of sales of $111.3M; net income of $53.4M; EBIDTA of $135.8M; cash from operating activities of $142M; sustaining capital of $41.6M; and free cash flow of $84.9M. The company expects to produce in 2024 between 8.4-9.2M Oz Ag, 61-69M Lb Zn, 40-46M Lb Pb, and 4.5-5.5K Oz Au (13-5-15M Oz AgEq) at a all in sustaining cost of $9.50-$11.50 per Oz Ag (or $14-$16 per Oz AgEq).
  • Capstone Copper Corporation released Q4, 2023 production results from its Cozamin mine, Zacatecas. The company processed 6,564 tonnes to produce 14.8M Lb Cu at a cash cost of USD $1.76 per Lb Cu produced. Capstone provided an outlook for 2024 and expects to produced between 49.3-53.8M Lb Cu at cash cost of USD $1.85-USD $2.05 per Lb Cu produced.
  • Alamos Gold Inc., announced Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Mulatos mine, Sonora. During the period Q4, 2023, the company produced 48.1K Oz Au and sold 50,489 Oz Au. Alamos reported cost of sales of USD $68.3M; cost of sales per Oz Au sold (including amortization) of USD $1,353; total cash cost per Oz Au sold of USD $957; mine site all in sustaining cost (AISC) per Oz Au sold of USD $1,030; and a capital expenditure of USD $8.4M. For the year-end 2023, Alamos produced 212,800 Oz Au and sold 215,833 Oz Au. The company reported cost of sales of USD $265.9M; cost of sales per Oz Au sold (including amortization) of USD $1,232; total cash cost per Oz Au sold of USD $883; mine site AISC Oz Au sold of USD $967; and a capital expenditure of USD $30.4M. It also provided its 2024 guidance and expects to produce between 160-170K Oz Au at total and AISC of USD $925-975, and USD $1,000-1,050 per Oz Au sold respectively.
  • Coeur Mining Inc., reported Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results from its Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua. Highlights are provided below:
  • Equinox Gold Corp., provided 2024 production and cost guidance for its Los Filos mine, Guerrero. The company expects to produce 155K-175K Oz Au at cash costs of USD $1,785- $1,885 per Oz Au and AISC of USD $2,090- $2,190 per Oz Au.
  • Minera Alamos Inc., announced 2024 operational outlook for its Santana mine in Sonora. The company is looking forward to significant advancements at the Santana gold mine in 2024 after facing challenges in 2023. It plans to expand mining and stacking operations using the current permitted pad space while awaiting permit amendments for future expansion. The company is finalizing plans for the year, including discussions with their mining contractor and permit approvals. Advanced development activities have already begun at the Nicho Main zone to support the new operational plan. Upgrades to equipment and personnel are expected to increase production levels from 2023. “Approximately 20K Oz Au at an average grade of 0.63 g/t and an approximate strip ratio of 1.6:1has now been defined for mining and loading over a 12-month schedule utilizing the current leach pad installed capacity. Included in the current plan are an additional 4,500 Oz of higher grade (~1 g/t) mineralized material. Due to its elevated gold content, this mineralization will be stockpiled initially for future processing pending additional studies to determine an optimal approach for crushing and processing to maximize recoveries”.
  • Torex Gold Resources inc., reported Q4 and year-end 2023 production results from its El Limon-Guajes Mine Complex, Guerrero (all currency is reported in USD$). In Q4, 2023, the company produced 137,993 Oz Au and sold 138,794 Oz Au at an average realized gold price of $1,995, contributing to revenue of $282.4M. Total cash costs of $885 per Oz Au sold and all-in sustaining costs of $1,073 per Oz Au sold. Cost of sales was $191.6M or $1,380 per Oz Au sold. Torex reported net income of $50.4M, generated an EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA of $115.4M and $142.6M respectively. Net cash generated from operating activities totalled $120M and $133.5M before changes in non-cash operating working capital, including income taxes paid of $12M and negative free cash flow of $24.3M. In the full-year 2023, the company produced 453,778 Oz Au and sold 444,750 Oz Au at an average realized gold price of $1,952, contributing to revenue of $882.6M. Total cash costs of $866 per Oz Au sold and all-in sustaining costs of $1,200 per Oz Au sold. Cost of sales was $600.1M or $1,349 per Oz Au sold. Torex reported net income of $204.4M, generated an EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA of $422.6M and $442.2M respectively. Net cash generated from operating activities totalled $300.8M and $340.8M before changes in non-cash operating working capital, including income taxes paid of $116.2M and negative free cash flow of $185.4M.
  • First Majestic Silver Corp., announced Q3 and year-end production and financial results from their Mexican operations. Figures by separate mine are provided below:
  • SilverCrest Metals Inc., provided 2024 production guidance for its Las Chispas mine, Sonora. The company expects to produce between 9.8-10.2M Oz AgEq at cash and AISC of USD $9.5-$10 and USD $15-$15.90 per Oz AgEq sold respectively. Sustaining Capital of USD $40M-$44M will be largely related to underground development and underground infrastructure. An exploration budget within a range of USD $12M-$14M has been approved for 2024 with a focus on converting inferred resources to indicated for reserve consideration in proximity to existing or planned infrastructure, return to early stage exploration at Las Chispas, and regionally define new targets that could benefit mine life extensions.

ON FINANCING

  • Kootenay Silver Inc., closed the final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $237.5K to complete a total aggregate gross proceeds of $3.7M from the offering. Net proceeds will be used for exploration activities, property commitments on the Company’s projects, working capital and general corporate purposes (Columba project, Chihuahua).
  • Oroco Resource Corp., announced the closing of a non-brokered private placement for net proceeds of $1M through the sale of 2.57M units at a price of $0.4 per unit. Net proceeds will be used to continue improving various underlying aspects of the Company’s Preliminary Economic Assessment, including those relating to the Santo Tomas mine plan, together with property maintenance and corporate overhead.
  • Sonoran Dessert Copper Corporation declared that in response to the continuing weakness in the junior resource sector, the Company will be reducing the price and increasing the amount of its private placement financing. Previously, the company was offering up to 2.5M units priced at $0.20, for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $500K. The updated financing will now offer up to 10M units priced at $0.10, for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1M. Proceeds from the financing will be used for general working capital, the continuing development of the company’s Cuatro Hermanos Copper Project in Sonora, and to evaluate and secure further opportunities in the copper sector.
  • Vizsla Silver Corp., announced $30M bought deal financing by selling 20M common shares at a price of $1.5 per common share. Net proceeds will be used to advance the exploration, drilling, and development of its Panuco project in Sinaloa, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Vizsla Silver Corp., filed an independent technical report containing an updated Mineral Resource Estimate on its Panuco project in Sinaloa.
  • Luca Mining Corp., reported significant improvements at its Campo Morado mine, Guerrero. Highlights include significantly improved overall performance in Q4, 2023 compared to previous quarters, yielding increased revenues; plant performance exceeded expectations with operational consistency; and higher metallurgical recoveries and concentrate grades, especially for copper in the bulk concentrate increasing from less than 48% recovery to over 70% recovery. Currently, Campo Morado produces a zinc concentrate, and a bulk copper-lead concentrate.
  • Alamos Gold Inc., reported Mineral Resources and Reserves as of December 31, 2023 for its Mulatos mine operation. Proven reserves are 1,032,000 of 3.98 g/t Au for a total of 132K Oz Au contained and probable reserves are 15,661,000 tonnes of 2.02 g/t Au for a total of 1.32M Oz Au contained. Proven + Probable reserves are 16,693,000 tonnes of 2.71 g/t Au for a total of $1.45M Oz Au contained. Mineral Resources are exclusive of Mineral Reserves, and the company reported measured resources for 1,333,000 tonnes of 1.76 g/t Au for a total of 76K Oz Au contained and indicated resources for 10,284,000 tonnes of 1.48 g/t Au for a total of 488K Oz Au contained. Measured + Indicated resources are 11,617,000 tonnes of 1.51 g/t Au for a total of 564K Oz Au contained. Inferred resources are 1,651,000 tonnes of 1.07 g/t Au for a total of 57K Oz Au contained.
  • Silver Storm Mining Ltd., released results from three holes drilled at the Quebradillas mine within its la Parrilla property in Durango. Drilling highlights include holes Q-23-022A with 64 g/t Ag, 0.16 g/t Au, 0.9% Pb, 16.7% Zn, and 0.21% Cu (535 g/t AgEq) over  0.55m, plus 498 g/t Ag, 0.08 g/t Au, 6.5% Pb, 8.5% Zn, and 0.06% Cu (911 g/t AgEq) over 13.65m, including 1,350 g/t Ag, 0.23 g/t Au, 2.1% Pb, 8.4% Zn, and 0.06% Cu (2,361 g/t AgEq) over 2.60m, and 674 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 5.4% Pb, 16.2% Zn, and 0.06% Cu (1,266 g/t AgEq) over 2.15m; and hole Q23-023 with 124 g/t Ag, 0.16 g/t Au, 0.6% Pb, 7.2% Zn, and 0.07% Cu (347 g/t AgEq) over 9.65m, including 136 g/t Ag, 0.18 g/t Au, 0.4% Pb, 8.7% Zn, and 0.08% Cu (397 g/t AgEq) over 5.3m. “Combined, these two holes have demonstrated the mineralization extends 74 metres below the last mined stope (1767 EL), with higher grades and widths than what was previously mined in this area”. More drilling will be allocated in this location in 2024.
  • Silver Tiger Metals Inc., provided an update on the Company’s ongoing Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) drilling program on the Stockwork Gold Deposit on its El Tigre Project in Sonora. The PFS aims to de-risk the Stockwork Deposit through the 25,000m drilling program focused on increasing confidence of the Mineral Resource with in-fill drilling expansion and classification, metallurgical and geotechnical as it progresses from an exploration to a development project. The company expects the publication of the PFS in H2-2024, and it continues to work on a substantial, permitted underground Mineral Resource Estimate and advance towards a Preliminary Economic Assessment by H2-2024.
  • Orla Mining Ltd., discovered a new polymetallic sulphide replacement-style mineralization at its Camino Rojo project in Zacatecas and recent drilling extended mineralization beyond the current mineral resource envelope, presenting a considerable opportunity for resource expansion. The drill program involved over 2,600 meters of drilling across four holes, with significant mineralized intercepts up to 450 meters down-plunge of the existing open pit mineral resource boundaries. Drilling highlights are provided in the table below:

The company also reported positive initial metallurgical results and plans to complete a 30,000-meter drill program in 2024 to further explore the extensive potential of the growing Camino Rojo Deposit.

  • Prime Mining Corporation provided a summary of the 2023 exploration activities and   released the final 2023 drilling results for its Los Reyes Gold-Silver Project in Sinaloa.   The company completed 58,896m of drilling over 184 holes following success-based exploration program; 162 drill holes intercepted mineralization above approximately 0.2 g/t Au cutoff. The drilling outlined indicated resources of 1M Oz Au at 1.16 g/t and 35M Oz Ag at 40 g/t Ag (1.47M Oz AuEq at 1.16 g/t), and inferred resources of 0.5M Oz Au at 0.85 g/t and 18.4M Oz Ag at 31 g/t (0.77M Oz AuEq at 1.26 g/t). The company is focused on resource expansion through new discoveries and technical de-risking activities. Prime advanced the metallurgical, geochemical, geotechnical and project understanding through testwork and field studies.
  • Discovery Silver Corp., announced results from the Feasibility Study (FS) on its Cordero project, Chihuahua. Highlights include 19-year mine life with average annual production of 37M Oz AgEq in Year 1 to Year 12; average AISC of less than USD $12.50 over the first eight years of the mine life; initial development capex of USD $606M resulting in an attractive after-tax NPV-to-capex ratio of 2.0; Base Case after-tax NPV5% (NPV) of USD $1.2 B and IRR of 22% with NPV expanding to USD $2.2 B in Year 4; Reserves of 302M Oz Ag, 840K Oz Au, 3 B Lb Pb, and 5.2 B Lb Zn; 240M tonnes of Measured & Indicated Resource sit outside the FS pit highlighting the potential to materially extend the mine life at modestly higher silver prices; an initial investment of over USD $600M, 2,500 jobs created during construction, USD $4 B of goods and services purchased and estimated tax contributions of over USD $1.4 B within Mexico; and third-party reviews of proposed environmental practices to ensure adherence to both Mexican regulatory standards and Equator Principles 4.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Trident Royalties Plc, in a joint venture with Sonoroy Holdings Limited, is acquiring a 3.0% Gross Revenue Royalty over the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico. The completion date for the transaction has been extended to December 31, 2026, allowing time for resolution of ongoing litigation and administrative reviews. Trident has the option to terminate the joint venture based on the outcome of the litigation. The acquisition aims to provide exposure to a long-life lithium project with expansion potential, operated by Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd. The company’s strategy focuses on building a diversified mining royalty and streaming portfolio while targeting small-to-mid size transactions in resource-friendly jurisdictions worldwide.
  • Bear Creek Mining Corporation announced the resignation of its CEO effective March 8, 2024, and later on the Board of Directors appointed its successor effective on or about March 18, 2024 (Mercedes mine, Sonora).
  • DynaResource Inc., announced the resignation of two Directors and appointed two new members to its Board of Directors (San Jose de Gracia project, Sinaloa).
  • Tarachi Gold Corp., notified that its CEO was elected to the Board of Directors (Magistral Mill & Tailings project, Durango).

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • No relevant news.

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

On the picture above, a rhyolite dike showing flow banded texture on a project of the Sonoran Desert. Photo taken by Miguel A Heredia.

The Mining and Exploration News in Mexico: Highlights on the Second Week of February, 2024

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Silica sinter

By Miguel A Heredia

During the 6th week of the year (February 5th to February 11th, 2024), at least 25 press releases were announced by companies working in Mexico, and 3 news published by the media with eight reporting resources and developments of their projects, six announcing financing issues, five disclosing deals and corporate issues, four commenting on Mexican issues, two communicating production results, two informing on exploration results, and one discussing social issues.  ON MEXICO ISSUES, Analysts announced that Q4, 2023 reports will be disparate on the Stock Market.  President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has presented 20 proposals for constitutional reforms in Mexico. AMLO presented initiative to prohibit open pit mining. Orla Mining, First Majestic, Prismo Metals, and Prime Mining reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the second week of February, 2024. ON EXPLORATION, In Sinaloa, Prismo provided an exploration update on its Palos Verdes project.  In Durango, Silver Dollar acquired from Canasil a 100% interest in the Nora project, and provided a project update. ON MINING, Argonaut announced that it will report Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results of their Mexican operations on March 6, 2024. GoGold released Q1, 2024 production and financial results from its Parral Tailings project, Chihuahua. ON FINANCING, Capstone and Orion closed its previously announced CADS $431M bought deal offering (Cozamine mine, Zacatecas). Defiance announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $3M (San Acacio project, Zacatecas). Kootenay increased the size of its previously announced non-brokered private placement to $3.5M (Columba project, Chihuahua). Sonoro announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $1M (Cerro Caliche project, Sonora).  Regency Silver extended the closing its private placement (Dios Padre project, Sonora).  Zacatecas Silver upsized and closed its previously announced private placement from $1.8M to $2.5M (Zacatecas Silver project, Zacatecas). ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Luca Miningprovided an update progress at its Tahuehueto property in Durango. Avino presented the results of the Pre Feasibility (PFS) for its Oxide Tailings project at its Avino mine operation in Durango. Sierra Madre provided an update on La Guitarra mine in the State of Mexico. Heliostar announced that it is evaluating test mining scenarios for its Ana Paula project, Guerrero in 2024. Orla concluded its 2023 Camino Rojo Sulphides Infill program in Zacatecas with strong results.  Prime Mining released results from the 2023 drilling program at the Z-T Area within its Los Reyes project, Sinaloa. First Majestic reported positive exploration results from their San Dimas property in Durango, and Santa Elena property in Sonora. Torex provided a Q4, 2023 update on its Media Luna project in Guerrero.   ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Capstone announced that it has commenced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas). Colibri appointed Douglas Coleman to its Advisory Board (Evelyn project, Sonora).  Fabled Silver terminated its letter of intent with Kootenay with respect to the proposed acquisition the Mecatona Property, Chihuahua. Luca Mining appointed a new member to its Board of Directors (Tahuehueto project, Durango). Defiance clarified technical disclosures pertaining to its technical reports related to their Tepal project, Michoacan and San Acacio project, Zacatecas. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, Fortuna Silver announced its objectives, metrics, and targets to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (San Jose mine, Oaxaca).

ON MEXICO ISSUE

  • Analysts predict that the fourth quarter of 2023 will be a mixed bag for Mexican mining companies due to pressures on costs and falling prices of industrial metals. While some companies may benefit from increasing prices of precious metals like gold and silver, others will also face higher costs. Grupo Mexico has already reported weak financial results due to decreased sales of copper, while the other companies are expected to face similar challenges in 2024 due to China’s economic slowdown. Only Minera Frisco has generated a positive return so far this year among the four mining companies. Autlán is expected to make some sequential improvements due to cost-cutting efforts, but the industry as a whole is predicted to face challenges in the coming year. All of last year, only the companies that are part of the S&P/BMV stock index IPC Grupo México (+37.66%) and Peñoles (+3.58%) had gains on the Stock Market. While the share of Fresnillo, a subsidiary of Peñoles listed on the London Stock Exchange, lost 34.08%, that of Autlán lost 26.43% and that of Frisco lost 9.01%.
  • President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has presented 20 proposals for constitutional reforms in Mexico. One of the proposals is to return the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) to its status as a public, strategic, and nationally important company.  AMLO also proposes to prohibit the extraction of hydrocarbons through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and to not grant concessions to private companies for open-pit mining activities. However, in the economic budget planned for 2024, the government has contemplated two projects with fracking for MXP $4.63M, according to data from the organization Mexican Alliance against Fracking (AMCF). Currently, of the almost 250 mines that operate in the country, 97 are open pit metal mines and 152 more are underground mines; However, until March 2022, 15,551 mining concessions were registered in the country with validity after 2050. It should be noted that since the arrival of AMLO to the presidency, not a single mining concession has been granted, which has led the sector to have a drop in investment that decreased its participation in the national GDP, from 2.50 in 2021 to 2.46 percent in 2022, while in industrial GDP from 8.78% to 8.63%. The proposed reforms also aim to eliminate “costly and elitist” dependencies and organizations that were supposedly autonomous but disconnected from the interests of the people. Some of the autonomous bodies that could be affected by these proposals include the Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE), Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH), and Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica (COFECE). AMLO will submit these initiatives to the Chamber of Deputies for discussion in the current or next legislative session.
  • President Andrés Manuel López (AMLO) presented initiative to prohibit open pit mining. On February 5, on the anniversary of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, AMLO presented an Initiative with a Draft Decree to carry out various reforms, one of these being the prohibition of open pit mining. According to the initiative, addressed to Dip. Marcela Guerra Castillo, President of the Chamber of Deputies, in order to protect the environment and health, we seek to modify art. 27 constitutional to “prohibit both the granting of concessions and the activities of exploration, exploitation, benefit, use or exploitation of minerals, metals or metalloids in the open pit, with the addition that the people who carry out these activities will be sanctioned.” The AMLO project indicates that there are currently around 264 open pit mines in Mexico, and much emphasis is placed on the old vision of predatory mining, leaving aside that for a mine to operate in our country it must have more than a thousand rules and regulations, in addition to having comprehensive closure plans.
  • Orla Mining Ltd., First Majestic Silver Corp., Prismo Metals Inc., and Prime Mining Corp., reported the best drilling intercepts in Mexico on the second week of February, 2024. Details are shown in the table below:

ON EXPLORATION

  • Prismo Metals Inc., provided an exploration update on its Palos Verdes project in Sinaloa.  Following the completion of its third drill campaign with 2,923 meters drilled in 15 holes, and in preparation of the upcoming expanded drill program to be drilled from Vizsla Silver Corp, Prismo completed an alteration and geochemical study that confirmed a downward offset of the mineralized ore shoot defined by drilling to date and that a second blind mineralized shoot may exist to the northeastern portion of the Palos Verdes vein, based on a geochemical sampling which revealed high-grade silver, gold, zinc, and lead values in the vein system.  The best sample from this program assayed 930 g/t silver and 10.55 g/t gold with 15.4% zinc and 4.5% lead (2,605 g/t Ag/Eq) over 0.5m. The company plans to conduct deep drilling from Vizsla Silver’s ground to explore these concepts further.
  • Silver Dollar Resources Inc., acquired from Canasil a 100% interest in the Nora project in Durango, and provided a project update. In connection with the acquisition of the Nora property, Silver Dollar encountered certain unresolved discrepancies in verifying the 2020 and 2021 drill results Canasil reported on the Nora property. For gold: of the 157 samples duplicated, Canasil reported 42 samples >1 g/t Au (1.23 – 43.7 g/t) including 18 samples >5 g/t (5.3 – 43.7 g/t), whereas Silver Dollar’s re-assaying yielded only three samples >1 g/t Au (1.04, 1.75, and 2.30 g/t). For silver: of the 157 samples duplicated, Canasil reported 44 samples >200 g/t Ag (133 -1,924 g/t) including 19 samples >500 g/t Ag (504 – 1,925 g/t), whereas Silver Dollar’s re-assaying yielded only three samples >100 g/t Ag (129, 158, and 448 g/t). “The QPs from both companies discussed the situation and recommended a further analytical program be carried out to provide some insight into what may have caused the assay discrepancies. However, Canasil did not have the financial resources to contribute to the recommended program and alternatively offered to waive certain of Silver Dollar’s consideration obligations under the Nora Option Agreement and transfer 100% ownership of the Nora property to Silver Dollar for the consideration that has been provided to date (as detailed below), subject to a 2% net smelter returns royalty with Silver Dollar having the right to buy back 1% of the Royalty for $1M. As of the date hereof, Silver Dollar has incurred a total of approximately $134,779 in exploration expenditures on the Nora property, as full consideration for the acquisition thereof. Silver Dollar is not required to provide any further consideration to Canasil to complete the acquisition and the transfer of the Nora concessions to Silver Dollar has been initiated”.

ON MINING

  • Argonaut Gold Inc., announced that it will report Q4 and year-end 2023 production and financial results of their Mexican operations on March 6, 2024.
  • GoGold Resources Inc., released Q1, 2024 production and financial results from its Parral Tailings project, Chihuahua. The company produced 109K Oz Ag, 1,848 Oz Au, and 212.8K Lb Cu (300,260 Oz AgEq). It also reported a revenue of USD $6.8M on the sale of 305,087 Oz AgEq, at a realized price of USD $22.28 per Oz Ag, and an adjusted cash cost and all in sustaining cost of USD $16.83 and USD $24.64 per Oz AgEq respectively ; a net income of USD $192K; and a cash of USD $88.8M.

ON FINANCING

  • Capstone Copper Corp., and Orion Fund JV Limited, Orion Mine Finance Fund II LP and Orion Mine Finance (Master) Fund I-A LP (collectively, Orion) closed its previously announced bought deal offering of common shares of Capstone by a syndicate of underwriters, which consisted of a total of 68,448,000 common shares at a price of CAD $6.30 per common share, which included the exercise in full of the Underwriters’ over-allotment option of 8,928,000 common shares from the company, for aggregate gross proceeds under the offering of CAD $431,222,400 (Cozamine mine, Zacatecas).
  • Defiance Silver Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to CAD $3M. The offering is priced at $0.10/unit. Each unit shall consist of one common share of the company and one half of one common share purchase warrant. Net proceeds will be used for exploration of the company’s projects and for general working capital purposes (San Acacio project, Zacatecas).
  • Kootenay Silver Inc., increased the size of its previously announced non-brokered private placement to $3.5M, at a price of $0.75 per unit. The net proceeds from the offering will be used for exploration activities, property commitments on the company’s projects, working capital and general corporate purposes (Columba project, Chihuahua).
  • Sonoro Gold Corp., announced a non-brokered private placement offering consisting of up to 22,222,222 units at a price of CAD $0.45 per unit for gross proceeds of up to CAD $1M. Net proceeds will be used to fund the ongoing development of the company’s Cerro Caliche gold project in Sonora, Mexico as well as working capital.
  • Regency Silver Corp., extended the closing its previously announced private placement dated January 17, 2024 (Dios Padre project, Sonora).
  • Zacatecas Silver Corp., upsized and closed its previously announced private placement from $1.8M to $2.5M. The Company will now proceed to immediately close the financing, by way of receiving subscription agreements and funds and intends to close within the next week. The Company intends to use the net proceeds to satisfy ongoing costs associated with its properties as well as general working capital purposes (Zacatecas Silver project, Zacatecas). 

ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Luca Mining Corp., provided an update progress at its Tahuehueto property in Durango. The project to increase throughput at the Tahuehueto mill to 1,000 tonnes per day is in the final commissioning stage. The testing of the second ball mill is well advanced and will provide a total installed grinding capacity of 1,250 tonnes per day. Once the second mill is commissioned, production will ramp up and progressively increase to 35,000-40,000 oz AuEq per year.
  • Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., presented the results of the Pre Feasibility (PFS) for its Oxide Tailings project at its Avino mine operation in Durango. Highlights include a NVP of USD $98M (pre-tax) and USD $61M (after-tax) at a 5% discount rate; an IRR of 35% (pre-tax) and 26% (after-tax); a payback period of 2.9 years (pre-tax) and  3.5 years (after-tax); an initial capital cost of USD $49.1M, including a contingency provision in the amount of USD $5.3M; the ongoing sustaining capital cost is USD $5.1M; On-site Operating Costs (OOC) and All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC) of USD $9.71 and USD $10.23 per Oz AgEq respectively; proven and probable mineral reserves of 6.70M tonnes at a silver and gold grade of 55 g/t and 0.47 g/t respectively; metal recoveries: 77.2% Ag and 74.9% Au; Doré production: Total 9,073,000 Oz Ag and 76,000 Oz Au, life-of-project (averaging 1,008,000 Oz Ag and 8,445 Oz Au per year); and the project will generate USD $52.4M in tax contributions to the local economy and government.
  • Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd., provided an update on La Guitarra mine in the State of Mexico. The company has retained TechSer Mining Consultants Ltd., to complete the Mine Restart Study (MRS), which include an estimation of underground mine material for the Guitarra, Coloso and Nazareno mines and the Los Angeles bulk tonnage deposit. The   MRS is expected to be completed in Q2 of this year. On the other hand, work has been ongoing to determine necessary steps for the potential re-start of production. In accordance with recommendations made by officials with the Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, SEDENA, improvements to the underground powder magazines have been completed. Finally, all circuits in the processing plant are undergoing maintenance and rehabilitation work which would be required for the resumption of operations. In the grinding circuit, the three ball mills are being relined, all parts of the central drive shaft mechanisms overhauled, and the motors cleaned and tested. A fourth ball mill with limited capacity will not be rebuilt at this time.
  • Heliostar Metals Ltd., announced that it is evaluating test mining scenarios for its Ana Paula project, Guerrero in 2024. The company is exploring the potential to complete the existing underground decline at the Ana Paula deposit in Guerrero, to enable test mining of a bulk gold sample. This would help de-risk the underground plan for Ana Paula while creating a potential pathway to production from test mining in 12 months. The company has initiated a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for completion in H2, 2024, and will continue resource growth drilling. Heliostar is assessing non-equity funding options for this program and has held discussions with potential offtake partners. Multiple scenarios indicate the potential to recover more than 20K Oz Au from a bulk sample from stocks averaging 7-10 g/t Au.
  • Orla Mining Ltd., concluded its 2023 Camino Rojo Sulphides Infill program in Zacatecas with strong results. Drilling highlights of the remaining unreported 14 holes completed as part of the 52 drill holes, 35,070 m infill program are shown in the table below:

“A preliminary underground resource estimate on the Camino Rojo Sulphides is eagerly anticipated to be completed in the second half of 2024. Metallurgy evaluation on the recent phase of Camino Rojo sulphide infill drilling is expected to continue throughout 2024”.

  • Prime Mining Corp., released results from the 2023 drilling program at the Z-T Area within its Los Reyes project, Sinaloa. Highlights of the drilling are shown in the table below:

“Ongoing drilling at Z-T aims to extend the high-grade shoots that remain open at depth, as well as following up on the newly discovered mineralization along strike”.

  • First Majestic Silver Corp., reported positive exploration results from their San Dimas property in Durango, and Santa Elena property in Sonora. At San Dimas, Durango, exploration drilling intersected significant gold and silver mineralization in multiple veins at Sinaloa North-Elia, Santa Teresa, Rosario and Perez Areas. Drilling highlights (true widths reported) include holes ST23-014 with 7.03 g/t Au and 903 g/t Ag (1,466 g/t AgEq) over 0.78m, plus 3.95 g/t Au and 270 g/t Ag (586 g/t AgEq) over 1.86m, plus 2.07 g/t Au and 130 g/t Ag (296 g/t AgEq) over 2.90m, plus 40.40 g/t Au and 2,092 g/t Ag (5,324 g/t AgEq) over 0.91m; hole SIN23-073 with 13.50 g/t Au and 1,007 g/t Ag (2,087 g/t AgEq) over 0.7m, plus 11.83 g/t Au and 758 g/t Ag (1,681 g/t AgEq) over 2.97m: hole PE23-225 with 1.6 g/t Au and 243 g/t Ag (371 g/t AgEq) over 0.77m, plus 14.18 g/t Au and 2,439 g/t Ag (3,574 g/t AgEq) over 1.03m, plus 3.78 g/t Au and 4.21 g/t Ag (723 g/t AgEq) over 7.78m, plus 9.16 g/t Au and 242 g/t Ag (974 g/t AgEq) over 0.84m, plus 1.33 g/t Au and 293 g/t Ag (293 g/t AgEq) over 0.96m; and hole PE23-242 with 7.36 g/t Au and 1,238 g/t Ag (1,826 g/t AgEq) over 2.41m. At Santa Elena, Sonora, the drilling program designed to convert Mineral Resources to Mineral Reserves at the Ermitaño mine, cut multiple high-grade intersections of gold and silver mineralization. Drilling highlights (true widths reported) include holes EWUG-23-012 with 7.02 g/t Au and 189 g/t Ag (750 g/t AgEq) over 10.05m, plus 20.95 g/t Au and 311 g/t Ag (1,987 g/t AgEq) over 4.88m, plus 7.99 g/t Au and 187 g/t Ag (826 g/t AgEq) over 2.38m; hole EWUG-23-007 with 4.51 g/t Au and 155 g/t Ag (516 g/t AgEq) over 8.18m, plus 4.33 g/t Au and 88 g/t Ag (434 g/t AgEq) over 3.93m, plus 18.50 g/t Au and 304 g/t Ag (1,784 g/t AgEq) over 1.71m, plus 7.44 g/t Au and 107 g/t Ag (702 g/t AgEq) over 1.32m; and hole EWUG-23-15 with 9.38 g/t Au and 230 g/t Ag (980 g/t AgEq) over 5.23m, plus 3.43 g/t Au and 192 g/t Ag (466 g/t AgEq) over 1.63m.
  • Torex Gold Resources Inc., provided a Q4, 2023 update on its Media Luna project in Guerrero.  In Q4 2023, Torex Gold’s Media Luna Project made significant progress towards completion. During Q4 2023, USD $124M was invested in the project, the highest quarterly spend to date. Total spend in 2023 was USD $366.3M, in line with revised annual project guidance of USD $360 to USD $390M. USD $350 to USD $400M has been guided for project capital expenditures in 2024, with quarterly expenditures through Q3 2024 expected to be similar to the level experienced in Q4 2023, before declining as the project nears completion. The project was 60% complete, with detailed engineering at 84% and procurement at 63%. Underground development and construction advanced, with the Guajes Tunnel breakthrough achieved ahead of schedule. Operational readiness activities continued, and the project remained on track for first concentrate production in late 2024 and commercial production in early 2025. Funding has exceeded remaining capital expenditures, and the project execution plan remains unchanged, with only minor adjustments to interim activities.

ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES

  • Capstone Copper Corp., announced that it has commenced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) (Cozamin mine, Zacatecas). Capstone was admitted to the official list of ASX on January 31, 2024, and will trade under the ticker symbol “CSC” (ASX: CSC).
  • Colibri Resource Corporation appointed Douglas Coleman to its Advisory Board (Evelyn project, Sonora).
  • Fabled Silver Gold Corp., terminated its letter of intent with Kootenay Silver Inc., with respect to the proposed acquisition the Mecatona Property, Chihuahua.
  • Luca Mining Corp., appointed a new member to its Board of Directors (Tahuehueto project, Durango).
  • Defiance Silver Corp., clarified technical disclosures pertaining to its technical reports entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Tepal Project, Michoacan” dated February 24, 2017 with an effective date of January 17, 2017, and its technical report entitled “Technical Report and Resource Estimate, San Acacio Silver Deposit, Zacatecas, Mexico” dated September 26, 2014, with an effective date of April 1, 2014. The company understands it will need to amend the technical reports accordingly.

ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., announced its objectives, metrics, and targets to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15% in 2023 compared to the forecasted emissions in 2030 without intervention measures. The company is committed to supporting the global ambition of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. To achieve the 2030 GHG emissions reduction target, Fortuna plans to implement projects such as providing renewable energy to its operations, providing low-carbon electricity, and constructing and modernizing mine paste fill plants. Fortuna is committed to monitoring the GHG emissions of each of its mines on a monthly basis, reviewing progress against GHG emissions reduction target and its pathway, and assessing potential climate-related risks and opportunities.

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, silica sinter in a low-sulphidation epithermal vein system in a project in Durango. Photo by Miguel A Heredia