Canadian mining company Mag Silver reports that the Juanicipio project, in Mexico, produced 462 321 oz of silver and 697 oz of gold in the first quarter of this year.
Of this, 203 421 oz of silver and 307 oz of gold are attributable to Mag, which holds a 44% stake in the project, alongside Mexico-headquartered mining company Fresnillo which owns the balance.
Mag CEO George Paspalas says the project has now successfully milled about 108 000 t of development material since early August last year, which has been generating cash flow and helped the companies gain valuable metallurgical understanding.
The companies plan on transitioning from processing material at the Fresnillo plant to a Juanicipio processing facility by the fourth quarter of this year.
Paspalas confirms that project development and construction activities are progressing well at the Juanicipio processing plant.
Mineralised material will continue to be batch processed on commercial terms, at a targeted rate of 16 000 t a month at the Fresnillo plant until the new plant is commissioned.