- Sierra Madre Gold and Silver has commenced underground mining at the Coloso mine, located in the Guitarra Complex in Mexico, 7 months ahead of schedule.
- The Coloso mine shows higher grades with 221 g/t silver and 1.61 g/t gold compared to the Guitarra veins (123 g/t silver and 1.25 g/t gold).
- Production at the Coloso mine will start at 50 tonnes per day and aims to increase to 150 tonnes by the end of 2025.
Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Ltd. (SMDRF, Financial) has begun underground mining at the Coloso silver-gold mine, part of the Guitarra Complex in the State of Mexico. The commencement of operations is notably 7 months ahead of the initial schedule, facilitated by over 12 kilometers of existing underground developments from previous operations by First Majestic Silver between 2014 and 2018, allowing for minimal pre-production expenditures.
Mining activities have initiated at the Jessica vein system, initially processing 50 tonnes of mineralized material per day with an ambitious target to ramp up production to 150 tonnes daily by year-end 2025. This upscaling will allow Coloso's high-grade material, which is 1.7 times higher in silver and 1.2 times higher in gold compared to Guitarra veins, to gradually replace some of the feed currently from Guitarra at the processing plant, maintaining its 500 tonnes per day operating capacity.
Sierra Madre is taking strategic steps by employing a metallurgist to optimize the blending ratio of Coloso to Guitarra mill feed materials, aiming to maximize economic results. As part of the ramp-up process, various blending ratios will be tested to ascertain optimal recovery procedures at the processing plant.
The Coloso resource, with an indicated 432,000 tonnes grading at 221 g/t silver and 1.61 g/t gold, is anticipated to enhance Sierra Madre's output significantly, leveraging the higher-grade material to improve overall production efficiency and economic performance of the mining operations.
