MAG Silver hits Juanicipio milestone

MAG Silver Corp. [MAG-TSX; MVG-NYSE MKT] has reached a key milestone at the Juanicipio gold joint venture in Mexico. In a 2020 second quarter update released after the close of trading on August 12, 2020, the company said the first 8,858 tonnes of ore was processed this month at a nearby facility owned by its Mexican partner Fresnillo Plc.

The expectation is that 16,000 tonnes/ month will be batch-processed until the Juanicipio joint venture’s own plant is commissioned in mid-2021.

MAG Silver is focused on becoming a top-tier primary silver mining company. MAG’s key asset is its 44%-owned Juanicipio property, which the company is developing in a joint venture partnership with 56% owner and project operator Fresnillo Plc.

MAG also has a 100% of the mineral concessions on the Cinco de Mayo property, also in Mexico, which consists of four major mineralized zones.

Juanicipio is located in the Fresnillo Silver Trend in Mexico, the world’s leading silver mining camp. The partners have been developing the surface and underground infrastructure on the property to support a 4,000 tonnes/day mining operation, producing an annual average of 16.5 million payable ounces of silver during the first six years of commercial production.

The Mexican Government National COVID-19 Order announced in April, 2020, resulted in a temporary suspension through May 30, 2020 of surface exploration and construction work.  However, a phased project restart commenced on June 1, 2020 and the overall development timetable remains unchanged.

The Juanicipio budget remains $440 million (100% basis), the partner had been looking at an estimated start-up date in the first half of 2020. By the end of next year, the operation is expected to be at 85% of the 4,000 tonne/day nameplate capacity.

The remaining expenditures are $267 million ($118 million for MAG’s 44% joint venture interest).

There is now nearly 30 km of underground development along three ramps into the orebody and the conveyor ramp to surface. At the plant, foundations are under construction with all mill components on site.

On Thursday, MAG shares rose 4.78% or $1.02 to $21.73 on a volume of 380,200 shares traded.