Bear Creek aims to boost potential at Mexico gold-silver mine
Bear Creek Mining Corp. [BCM-TSXV] said it is engaged in strategy to try and improve the long-term potential of its Mercedes mine in Sonora Mexico, which produced 9,304 ounces of gold and 40,893 ounces of silver in the second quarter ended June 30,2024.
The San Martin deposit continued to contribute the majority of Mercedes’s second quarter mined and processed tonnage, with lesser amounts contributed by the Marianas, Diluvio and Lupita deposits.
On Friday, Bear Creek shares eased 1.6% or $0.005 to 31 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 60 cents and 16 cents.
The company said it has engaged a number of expert consultants to participate in an intensive exploration initiative to identify new exploration targets proximal to the Mercedes operation and elsewhere within the approximately 70,000-hectare project.
The Mercedes mine produced 43,860 ounces of gold and 167,019 ounces of silver in 2023. The all-in-sustaining cost was US$1,769 an ounce. Over the course of the year (2023), the company identified and overcame significant challenges, inhibiting the mine’s performance, prompting the company to restructure the metal streams, including gold deliverables by 325 ounces per month and silver deliverables to nil until April, 2028.
The company also amended the terms of a US$22.5 million Sandstorm Gold Ltd. [SSL-TSX, SAND-NYSE] convertible debenture entered into in December, 2021, and extended its maturity date.
Bear Creek made a strategic decision in the first quarter of 2024 to discontinue development of the central ramp at the Marianas deposit and to drive a new lateral ramp in substantially more stable rock.
During the second quarter of 2024, the company proceeded to drive a new lateral ramp that is expected to facilitate improved delineation drilling and ultimately production from the Marianas deposit later this year and into 2025.
Mercedes consists of a number of low-sulphidation epithermal deposits that are primarily controlled by a large regional and secondary faults and the contact between two regional volcanic units. The company said it is working with a structural geology expert to unravel the complex structural history of the deposit area, better understand secondary controls on mineralization and develop strategies for the discovery of new orebodies.
Bear Creek is a precious metals producer with assets in Mexico and Peru.
The company’s wholly-owned Corani silver-lead-zinc deposit in Peru is the one of the largest, fully-permitted silver deposits in the world, one that is highlighted by its substantial base metal credits, its location in a mining friendly jurisdiction and overwhelming community support.
The Mercedes Mine was acquired in April, 2022. Mercedes is a cash-flow generating gold mine with a strong track record of reserve replacement and blue- sky potential, the company has said.
The mine sits on 43 mineral concessions covering 69,284 hectares located 250 kilometres northeast of Hermosillo and 300 kilometres south of Tucson, Arizona.