Great Panther outlines plans amid silver surge

Great Panther Mining Ltd. [GPR-TSX; GPL-NYSE American] on Friday January 29 filed a technical report for its 100%-owned Tucano gold mine in Brazil and outlined its exploration strategy for 2021.

Great Panther is a low-cost precious metals producer with a strong leverage to the price of silver which climbed this week after a user in Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum posted about executing a “short squeeze” on the precious metal. On Friday, the price silver was up 6.4% to US$27.58/oz.

Great Panther operates three mines, including the Tucano mine in Amapa State Brazil, and two primary silver mines in Mexico: the Guanajuato Mine Complex and Topia Mine.

In a January 14, 2021 news release the company said it achieved its 2020 production targets by producing 150,051 gold equivalent ounces.

The Tucano mine is accessible by a federal highway or by chartered aircraft. Formerly a heap leach operation, it produced 125,417 ounces of gold last year.

“Our 2020 exploration programs were successful in extending the existing open pit mine life at Tucano and adding significant resources to our mineral inventory for the Guanajuato Mine Complex,” said Great Panther President and CEO Rob Henderson. “2021 will represent a significant increase in our exploration efforts with a planned record of 90,000 metres of drilling – a $13 million investment. Our key objectives will be to continue to extend the Tucano open pit mine life, further prove up the underground with a view to extending the high-grade zones, and make meaningful inroads into key targets in the expansive Tucano regional land package.”

The company filed a technical report which supports its updated mineral reserve and resource update for the Tucano mine, which was announced on December 15, 2020.

Proven and probable reserves at Tucano are now estimated at 629,000 ounces of gold, of which 299,000 ounces are open pit reserves. This represents a replacement of depleted reserves.

Measured and indicated resources, inclusive of reserves, are 953,000 ounces. In the Tucano open pit measured and indicated resources are 561,000 ounces, an increase of 28% since September 2019. Inferred resources are 534,000 ounces.

“We have successfully replaced 2020 mining depletion and added another year to the mine life at Tucano,” Henderson said.

Great Panther shares advanced on the news, rising 1.9% or $0.02 to $1.07, up from 96 cents on January 27, 2021.