During the 42nd week of the year (October 14th to October 20th, 2024), companies working in Mexico posted at least 17 press releases. One company informed on exploration advances on its property, six companies posted quarterly results, two companies closed private placements, one company bought back shares advanced on a failed option deal outside Mexico, one company fully paid debt, one company reported a new MRE, three companies announced appointments to the board, one company informed on AGM results and one more completed the acquisition of a mining district. ON MEXICO ISSUES, no relevant matters. ON EXPLORATION, in Sinaloa, Prismo Metals has an ongoing drill program at Palos Verdes. ON MINING, GoGold Resources, Endeavour Silver, First Majestic Silver, Avino Silver & Gold Mines, Sierra Metals and Bear Creek Mining released Q3 production results. ON FINANCING, Osisko Development and Heliostar Metals closed private placements, Starcore International Mines bought back shares issued as payment for an option agreement, Orla Mining paid US$58.5 M to become debt free. ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT, Prime Mining presented a new mineral resource estimate for its Los Reyes project in Sinaloa. ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES, Santacruz Mining, Heliostar Metals and Starcore International Mines informed on board appointments. Florida Canyon Gold shareholders were advised to vote in favor of the deal with Integra Resources. Vizsla Silver presented results of its AGM. Vizsla Silver completed the acquisition of La Garra-Metates District in Sinaloa. ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, no relevant news.
- Prismo Metals Inc. has an ongoing drill program at Palos Verdes, in Sinaloa. “The first hole is designed to cut both the Palos Verdes vein as well as the high-grade gold-silver vein about 50 meters downdip from the previous intersections. Assays reported from last year’s drilling include hole PV-23-25 with 102 g/t gold, 3,100 g/t silver and 0.26% zinc over 0.5 meters…”
- GoGold Resources Inc. reported production from its operation at the Parral tailings in Chihuahua, for the quarter ending on September 30, 2024. During the period 167 K Oz Ag, 2,232 Oz Au, 132 tonnes Cu, 100 tonnes Zn (or 406.2 K Oz AgEq) were produced.
- Endeavour Silver Corp. reported third quarter 2024 production of 874.7 K Oz Ag, 9,290 Oz Au (or 1.6 M Oz AgEq). At Guanaceví, in Durango, 67.1 K tonnes were processed at a rate of 729 tpd, grading 402 gpt Ag, 1.46 gpt Au, recovering 88.7% Ag, 89.8% Au, to produce 768.9 K Oz Ag, 2,828 Oz Au. At Bola?itos, in Guanajuato, 108 K tonnes were processed at a rate of 1,174 tpd, grading 36 gpt Ag, 2.00 gpt Au, recovering 84.7% Ag, 93.1% Au, to produce 105.8 K Oz Ag, 6,462 Oz Au. Production at Guanaceví “decreased in August and September due to a trunnion failure of the primary ball mill ….. Estimated fabrication timing remains at 15 weeks with the mine being back to full operations in December 2024”.
- First Majestic Silver Corp. announced the production of 5.5 M Oz AgEq during Q3, 2024. At Santa Elena, in Sonora, 259.9 K tonnes were processed at a rate of 2,856 tpd, grading 68 gpt Ag, 3.50 gpt Au, recovering 67% Ag, 94% Au, to produce 376.2 K Oz Ag, 27,435 Oz Au (or 2.68 M Oz AgEq). At San Dimas, in Durango, 195.3 K tonnes were processed, at a rate of 2,146 tpd, grading 188 gpt Ag, 2.12 gpt Au, recovering 89% Ag, 95% Au, to produce 1.05 M Oz Ag, 12,582 Oz Au (or 2.11 M Oz AgEq). At La Encantada, in Coahuila, 223.2 K tonnes were processed at a rate of 2,453 tpd, grading 110 gpt Ag, 0.01 gpt Au, recovering 69% Ag, 90% Au, to produce 545 K Oz Ag, 59 Oz Au (or 550 K Oz AgEq). The rest of the production came from the Jerrit Canyon mine in Nevada. Seven surface rigs and two underground rigs completed 14,796 m at Santa Elena. ??Four surface rigs and 10 underground rigs completed 29,172 m of drilling at San Dimas. Two surface rigs completed 1,862 of drilling at La Encantada.
- Avino Silver & Gold Mines, Ltd. reported production for third quarter 2024. During the period 156.5 K tonnes were processed, grading 63 gpt Ag, 0.46 gpt Au, 0.58% Cu, recovering 89% Ag, 69% Au, 88% Cu, to produce 281.8 K Oz Ag, 1,625 Oz Au, 1.77 M Lb Cu (or 670.9 K Oz AgEq) at the Avino mine in Durango. The operations team is in the final stages of approval to move forward with underground development at La Preciosa, also in Durango.
- Sierra Metals Inc. reported third quarter 2024 production results, including figures from its Mexican operations. At Bolivar, in Chihuahua, 401.7 K tonnes were processed, grading 0.78% Cu, 201.4 gpt Ag, 0.38 gpt Au, recovering 91.5% Cu, 85.5% Ag, 69.4% Au, to produce 6.31 M Lb Cu, 222 K Oz Ag, 3,361 Oz Au.
- Bear Creek Mining Corp. released production figures for the third quarter 2024. At the Mercedes mine, in Sonora, 103.9 K tonnes were mined, 102.5 K tonnes processed, grading 3.40 gpt Au, recovering 96% Au to produce 10.751 Oz Au, 76.9 K Oz Ag.
- Osisko Development Corp. closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of US$34.5 M, to be invested in a project not in Mexico (San Antonio, Sonora).
- Starcore International Mines Ltd. bought back 8.67 M common shares previously issued as partial consideration for an option agreement with K Mining SARL regarding several mineral properties in Cóte d’Ivoire. “Starcore negotiated to acquire the Shares from the sole shareholder of K Mining at $0.10 per share, payable in 12 equal tranches over 33 months” (San Martin, Querétaro).
- Orla Mining Ltd. repaid the entirety of the outstanding balance on its revolving credit facility totaling US$58.4 M. “With this repayment, the Company is now debt free with cash on hand of approximately $120 million”. The US$150 M credit facility will remain in place and available until its expiry in August 2027 (Camino Rojo, Zacatecas).
- Heliostar Metals Ltd. closed a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of C$6 M, with Eric Sprott being subscribed for the entire private placement. Following the placement, Mr. Sprott owns approximately 13% of the outstanding common shares on a non-diluted basis and 15.9% on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of warrants. On a different press release Heliostar announced that almost 4 M warrants of the company have been exercised since September 16th, 2024, adding 1.19 M to the treasury. ?(Ana Paula, Guerrero).
ON RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
- Prime Mining Corp. reported significant open pit expansion and new underground resources in its 2024 mineral resource estimate (MRE) at Los Reyes, in Sinaloa. The Los Reyes resource is on low sulfidation epithermal structures hosted in volcanic rocks, within the Z-T Trend, the Gudalupe Trend, the Central Trend and three Generative areas: Las Primas, Mariposa and Fresnillo. The resource is subdivided in open pit, underground and mill and heap leach operations, with 49.0 M tonnes @ 0.95 gpt Au, 34.2 gpt Ag in indicated resources containing 1.49 M Oz Au, 54 M Oz Ag (or 2.19 M Oz AuEq), and 17.2 M tonnes @ 0.97 gpt Au, 39 gpt Ag in inferred resources, containing 538 K Oz Au, 21.6 M Oz Ag (or 817 K Oz AuEq). “The updated Resource statement reflects a mixed approach that considers open pit versus underground mining on an area-by-area basis”. Highlighted results from 21 unpublished drill holes comprise 2.35 m @ 4.57 gpt Au, 62 gpt Ag; 1.35 m @ 7.87 gpt Au, 105 gpt Ag; 10.45 m @ 0.98 gpt Au, 29 gpt Ag (including 2.75 m @ 2.51 gpt Au, 57 gpt Ag); 5.54 m @ 1.12 gpt Au, 42 gpt Ag; 1.85 m @ 1.71 gpt Au, 121 gpt Ag.
ON DEALS AND CORPORATE ISSUES
- Santacruz Mining Ltd. informed Mr. Gregg Orr, CFO, has resigned and Mr. Andres Badregal has been appointed as the interim CFO of the company (Zimapan, Hidalgo).
- Florida Canyon Gold Inc. announced that proxy advisors, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC. have both recommended that company shareholders vote in favor of the special resolution authorizing the resolution under the provisions of Section 192 of the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) involving Florida Canyon Gold Inc. pursuant to the resolution between FCGI and Integra Resources Corp. (San Agustin and El Castillo, Durango; La Colorada, Sonora).
- Heliostar Metals Ltd. announced the appointment of Mr. Hernan Dorado and Vice President Sustainability and Special Projects. (Ana Paula, Guerrero)
- Vizsla Silver Corp. completed the acquisition of the La Garra – Metates District situated on the center of the Panuco – San Dimas corridor in Sinaloa. Vizsla is to pay US$3.075 M in cash and issue shares for US$7 M over a period of 24 months from the closing date of the acquisition, with partial restrictions on the subsequent sale of shares ranging from 1 to 3 years. A 1% NSR granted to the sellers can be repurchased at any time for US$750 K. The company paid US$1.6 M in back taxes owed on the mining concessions comprising the deal (Panuco, Sinaloa).
- Starcore International Mines Ltd. announced the election of all directors nominated on its annual general meeting (San Martin, Querétaro).
On the image below: Drilling under the scarp in Sonora. Picture by Jorge Cirett.
