El Gallo Mine Resumes Operations in Mexico

McEwen Mining announced that its El Gallo mine located in Sinaloa has resumed operations after negotiating with nearby communities, which had forced the company to halt operations in the beginning of March by blocking the mine’s main access point.

The communities neighboring El Gallo mine had illegally blocked the main entrance to the mine, demanding a significant increase to their annual payments as well as infrastructure improvements. The mine was then left unmanned and the only staff members remaining were the ones in charge of the safety, security and environmental systems. In a statement, McEwen mentioned that it was surprised by the situation and stated that El Gallo had operated harmoniously with the local communities since 2012. The company also highlighted its long-standing track record supporting local communities, as reported by Mining.com.

In a recent press release, McEwen stated that it had reached a new 10-year resolution with the local communities that would provide the latter additional support and give the company greater long-term certainty in its operations at El Gallo.

In an interview with MBN, Adrián Blanco, Mexico General Manager of McEwen Mining, stated that El Gallo employed about 500 people including contractors, of which over two-thirds were from neighboring communities. He also mentioned the company has maintained a good relationship and communication with the neighboring communities and that the communities, in return, had accepted McEwen’s operations in the area.

This mine is undergoing a redevelopment plan, which involves the construction of a mill that initially will reprocess the existing heap leach material and will later process ore from open pits from the El Gallo Silver, Palmarito, Carrisalejo and El Encuentro deposits, reports MBN.

With the mine resuming operations, McEwen can now continue its operational goals. After a feasibility study, the company announced it was expecting the project to run for 9.5 more years. Moreover, McEwen said it is expecting to reach an annual production of 300,000 gold-equivalent oz by 2025 across all its mines, up from the 160,000 to 170,000 gold-equivalent oz in 2021. This production is expected to come from El Gallo, its Fox complex in Canada, Gold Bar in the US and San Jose in Argentina, as reported by MBN.