GSilver reports record Q4 production in Mexico
Guanajuato Silver Co. Ltd. [GSVR-TSXV] said Thursday it produced a record 836,375 ounces of silver equivalent (AgEq) in the fourth quarter of 2022 from operations in Mexico.
That amount was derived from 401,244 ounces of silver, 3,907 ounces of gold, 811,492 pounds of lead and 1.26 million pounds of zinc. AgEq production for all of 2022 amounted to 2.15 million ounces, the company said in a press release.
“We ended 2022 with record production of precious metals from five mines and three processing facilities,’’ said Guanajuato (GSilver) Chairman and CEO James Anderson. “Capital investments made during the fourth quarter are already generating improved efficiencies and our operations team continues to look for opportunities to enhance profit margins as we strive to continue our trend of quarterly increases in silver production across all of our producing assets.’’
GSilver is a precious metals producer engaged in reactivating past producing silver and gold mines in central Mexico. The company produces silver and gold concentrates from the El Cubo Mine, Valancia Mines Complex and San Ignacio mine. All three are located in the state of Guanajuato, which has an established 480-year mining history.
Additionally, the company produces silver, gold, lead and zinc concentrates from the Topia mine in northwestern Durango. The portfolio includes four operating mines and three processing facilities.
GSilver acquired the El Cubo mine from Endeavour Silver Corp. (EDR-TSX, EXK-NYSE), a company that holds a 12.63% stake in GSilver.
El Cubo is a underground gold-silver mining complex which is located in El Cubo village, approximately 10 kilometres east of Guanajuato city. The complex has historically produced roughly 2.0 million ounces of gold and 80 million ounces of silver.
Consolidated silver equivalent production in the fourth quarter was 19% higher than the previous quarter. The company said the increase reflects the continuing ramp up of operations at all of GSilver’s mining assets.
The company said it ended the year at a commercial run rate of 3.5 million AgEq ounces, which is approximately 8.0% higher than anticipated.
On January 26, 2023, GSilver shares closed at 41.5 cents and currently trade in a 52-week range of 72 cents and 27 cents.
Meanwhile, the company said it has launched a dry stack tailings project at El Cubo and advanced engineering has been completed. GSilver is awaiting regulatory approval to begin construction of a dry stack facility that would increase tailings capacity at El Cubo from 2.5 years to approximately 15 years of additional tailings storage.
A new gravity circuit at El Cubo was completed during the quarter with the objective of recovering gold and silver from the Mastrantos IV historical tailings pond.