Durango Mine Profile
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Spotlight
Durango Mine Profile
Mon, 10/21/2013 - 13:55|
TAYOLTITA, PRIMERO MINING The Tayoltita gold-silver underground mine is located on the border of Sinaloa and Durango, some 125km northeast of Mazatlán in central western Mexico. This mining complex comprises five underground zones: San Antonio West, Sinaloa Graben, Central Block, Tayoltita, and Arana Hanging Wall block. Its epithermal structures contain variable amounts of mineralization with concentrations of gold and silver. All of the San Dimas mines are underground operations using mechanized cut-and-fill mining methods. Primero Mining carries out all of its milling operations at the Tayoltita mill, which currently has a throughput capacity of 2,100 t/d. |
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LA CIÉNEGA, FRESNILLO PLC La Ciénega is a gold-silver mine located near the community of Nuestra Señora de la Ciénega in Durango. Fresnillo’s property consists of an underground mine and a flotation and leaching plant. The mine has ore bodies that include gold, silver, lead, and zinc concentrations, and has a current production of 59,644 ounces of gold and 2.188 million ounces of silver, with a workforce of 905 employees, including contractors. The mine has reserves of 830,000 ounces of gold and 54 million ounces of silver, and the estimated mine life is of 16.7 years. In addition, the mine produced 2,676 tonnes of lead and 2,919 tonnes of zinc in 2012. For 2013, a scoping study for the Las Casas project is planned, as well as the continued exploration of the Cebollitas cluster, a new mine satellite for La Ciénega. |
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LA PARRILLA, FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER La Parrilla mining district is located in the physiographic sub-province of Sierras y Llanuras de Durango, and consists of several large vein systems. First Majestic has historically focused its exploration efforts on the Quebradillas, Vacas, San Marcos, and La Blanca mines and the Cerro Santiago, Viboras, San Nicolás, and Sacramento areas. The property began operations in October 2004. It recently underwent a fifth major development project that further expanded the mill to 2,000 t/d. The expansion was deemed commercially effective in March 2012, when the new parallel 1,000 t/d flotation and 1,000 t/d cyanidation circuits became fully operational. At the newly designed run rate of 2,000 t/d, La Parrilla will produce in the range of 3.3 to 3.4 million ounces of silver equivalent annually. |
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GUANACEVÍ, ENDEAVOUR SILVER The Guanaceví mine is located 260km northwest of the city of Durango. The 4,100 hectare property operates in low-sulphidation epithermal veins that are typically thousands of meters long, 600m deep, and 1 to 5m thick. Endeavour Silver acquired Guanaceví in 2004 and since then the mine has produced more than 15 million ounces of silver and 38,000 ounces of gold. The operations include three underground silver-gold mines, a cyanidation leach plant, mining camp, and administration and housing facilities. They provide employment for more than 450 people and engage nearly 200 contractors. In 2012 Guanaceví produced 2.5 million ounces of silver and 7,874oz of gold. The state of Durango has a long mining tradition that dates back to pre-Hispanic times, reaching its peak during the time of Spanish Colonization. In 1552 the Cerro de Mercado iron deposit was discovered, and shortly afterwards the city of Durango was founded. By 1604 the region had 52 mines and 23 processing haciendas. By 1897 this number had grown to 709 mines and 89 processing haciendas. The main mineral deposits discovered throughout Durango’s history have been La Ojuela, Topia, Canelas, Velardeña, Tayoltita, Cerro de Mercado, Bacis, Avino, Guanaceví, Magistral del Oro, La Ciénega de Nuestra Señora, La Platosa, Indé and Peñoles. According to the Mexican Geological Survey there are at least 75 mining projects at the exploration and exploitation stages in Durango, which has 23 mining regions that are usually associated with the magmatic formations of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and less commonly in the Sierra Madre Oriental. During 2011 Durango ranked third in the country for the number of foreign mining companies operating in the state, totaling 91. That year the state’s metal mining production value amounted to US$900 million, representing 6% of Mexico’s total mining production value. Regarding nonmetallic minerals, the state is also an important producer of bentonite, marble, and perlite. In 2010 Peñoles acquired the Velardeña project from Grupo Mexico, and invested US$230 million in modernizing the mine operation, which started production in the first semester of 2013. In 2011 Fresnillo expanded its Santiago Papasquiaro processing plant, which operates by flotation at a capacity of 2,200 t/d Chesapeake Gold has invested US$3.5 billion in its Metates project, which is considered to be one of the largest undeveloped gold and silver projects in the world. The prefeasibility study indicated a large 120,000 t/d open pit operation with a 20 year mine life and accumulated gold production of 17.2 million ounces. Over the course of the mine life the project is expected to generate US$20.1 billion.
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