Cerro Caliche Gets Another PEA with Promising Results

Sonoro Gold announced they have completed a PEA on their Cerro Caliche property in the state of Sonora.

The Vancouver-based company completed the Preliminary Economic Assessment with very promising results. The open-pit heap leach operation at Cerro Caliche is expected to yield an average 45,700 gold-equivalent ounces per year over a seven-year period, the current estimated mine-life, corresponding to a total of 323,500 gold-equivalent ounces. The assessment further revealed that during the first three years of life, the mine would produce an annual total of 56,500 gold-equivalent ounces. Forecasted cash costs are of US$1,227 per g-e ounce. Cerro Caliche is currently not wholly owned by the company, although they could option to acquire it in full. 

Kenneth McLeod, Sonoro Gold Corp CEO revealed during his intervention during MBN's 2021 Mexico Mining Forum that Cerro Caliche “has all the elements necessary to prove successful in the long term,” mainly due to its favorable position in one of the best mining jurisdictions in the country and to its permitting and its ability to operate.

Cerro Caliche is located about 45km from the town of Magdalena de Kino and about three hours away from Tucson, Arizona. The property, as reported by MBN, has seen its potential grow since Sonoro Gold acquired it. An earlier 2019 technical report showed approximately 200,000 ounces of minerals. Since then, Sonoro Gold has expanded its drilling to 47,500 meters, and increased interest areas to the north. Additional surface work is taking place in areas known as El Rincón and Cerro Caliche Peak.“ We anticipate that this whole area will become a mineralized zone as well with future drilling,” McLeod stated.

McLeod revealed during the forum the now-completed PEA was taking place, while also commenting that the area was extremely well mineralized. The average depth of holes the company has been drilling is 110 meters, and they number over 433 in total. “We did not want to take any great risks by attempting to go deeper to try to develop a Mercedes-style deposit,” he said regarding the chosen depths and drilling strategy. “We have been very successful in illuminating the great potential for the shallow oxide near-surface resource in this area,” he added.

Moreover, in an interview with MBN, Jorge Díaz, Vice President of Operations at Sonoro Gold, stated that Cerro Caliche is one of Sonora’s most promising mining projects. While highlighting the potential of Cerro Caliche, which he assures was key when the company decided to acquire it, VP Díaz revealed that they were working hard in transforming the property into an “economic resource” by optimizing operating parameters. Sonoro Group has an “aggressive” operational plan for the property by the end of 2021, on track to start production in 2022, he added.