Americas Gold and Silver, which said in December 2021 that operations had recommenced at its Cosalá operations in Sinaloa, Mexico, achieved nameplate production levels at its mill in early January.
The miner had held the mine on idle in large part due to a 19-month illegal blockade. It said in November all of its workers had been recalled.
The now-fully producing Los Braceros mill is receiving a steady source of feed from a combination of existing stockpiled ore and new production from the mine. Meanwhile, production from San Rafael continues to ramp up and is not causing a milling bottleneck, officials said.
“Initial production will focus on maximizing near-term free cash flow by mining high-grade zinc-silver areas of the Main Zone which were fully developed prior to the illegal blockade,” the producer said, noting that, over the next six months, the mine will continue development into the Upper Zone – which carries silver grades that are approximately five to six times higher than the Main Zone. Mining these areas at Cosalá will significantly increase silver production to over 2.5 million ounces of silver per year.
Americas Gold and Silver President and CEO Darren Blasutti said: “We are currently processing high-grade material through the mill, which should positively impact metal production, revenue and cashflow through the balance of the year and continue into 2022. I am confident the company will have a good start to 2022 with the re-opening of the Cosalá operations and the strong current metal prices.”
Americas Gold and Silver, which owns and operates Cosalá, also manages the 60%-owned Galena complex in Idaho and the Relief Canyon mine in Nevada along with the San Felipe development project in Sonora, Mexico.