Silver Mountain outlines mining target in Peru
Silver Mountain Resources Inc. [AMGR-TSXV] President and CEO Alfredo Bazo said he is envisioning a mine start-up at the company’s Reliquias silver mine in central Peru by the second half of 2024.
Silver Mountain is a silver explorer and mine development company that completed an IPO that raised $26.4 million in February, 2022. The company has said its immediate goal is to re-commence production at the Reliquias underground mine and undertake exploration activities at its prospective silver camps at the Castrovirrena Project in Huancavelica, Peru.
Silver Mountain, through its subsidiary Sociedad Minera Reliquias SAC, controls over 27,000 hectares in the Castrovirrena mining district, mostly within the Reliquias and Dorita property blocks. The region is known to host significant metal and polymetallic deposits, including Julcani (101 million ounces of past silver production) and San Genaro (over 60 million ounces of past silver production).
Within the Reliquias concession block, epithermal intermediate-sulphidation-style mineralization was previously mined at the Reliquias and Caudalosa Grande deposits from multiple veins. However, the company said both veins remain highly under explored
On Tuesday, Silver Mountain shares were unchanged at 22 cents and currently trade in a 52-week range of 40 cents and 16.5 cents.
In an update containing its plans for 2023, the company said that based on information compiled during the successful 2022 exploration campaign, an initial NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate of the Reliquias deposit is expected to be published in the second quarter of 2023.
This year, exploration efforts will be focused on expanding the identified resource base, to be incorporated into a subsequent resource update as part of the planned preliminary economic analysis (PEA). This includes 14,500 metres of planned diamond drilling.
Meanwhile, the development of the principal infrastructure such as haulage levels, drifts, and access ramps is programmed to commence in the second quarter of 2023. In the second half of 2023, this will be followed by starting to prepare the blocks of economically viable mineralization for future exploitation.
The PEA will include an update of the applicable resource estimate, determination of economically viable mineralization, mine plan and design.
“We are convinced that with the planned exploration program, the potential resources at the Reliquias deposit will continue to grow, facilitating a mine start-up envisioned for the second half of 2024,’’ said Bazo.
In November, 2022, the company acquired a 100% interest in the Lira de Plata project from Pan American Silver Corp. [PAAS-TSX, NASDAQ], a move that secured close to 800 hectares of highly prospective ground in the vicinity of Reliquias and consolidating the company’s position in the Castrovirrena mining district.
In 2022, the company completed a 72-hole underground drill program at the Reliquias mine for a total of 16,955.3 metres. The objective was to validate historical resources within the most promising structures, primarily in the Matacaballo, Sacasipuedes, and Meteysaca viens.