Santacruz Silver Achieves ESG Certification Milestone

The Week in Mining highlights Santacruz Silver’s progress regarding IRMA’s ESG certification. The company reached a milestone, taking it closer to full certification. Also, Mexico’s industry got stirred after the government eliminated a number of public trust funds—concerns were voiced over the Mining Fund’s permanence. Finally, technology in the mining industry is marching forward: SKF, LabWare and TecProMin are some companies leading the way. 

This and more in your weekly mining roundup!

Industry Players

Santacruz Silver Mining announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Carrizal Mining has been recognized by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) for Transparency after an audit for compliance against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Transparency is the first of four levels of IRMA’s social and environmental performance system.

Fresnillo plc reduced its gold production outlook by 17 percent against what was initially expected for 2020, as pandemic-related restrictions in Mexico limit the number of people who can work in the mines.

Comet Resources Limited released its initial JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimate for Santa Teresa Gold Project in Baja California. The project’s prospective is for high-grade gold. Results using a cutoff grade of 2.5g/t resulted in estimates of a 7.47g/t gold grade for 88,600oz.

Industry Trends

The Mexican mining industry will be guarded by a sector-specific police force. The force has already been deployed at Fresnillo plc’s La Herradura gold mine in Sonora.

Mexico’s Mining Chamber (CAMIMEX) and other industry organizations urged the federal government to keep the Mining Fund in operation. Since its establishment during the Peña Nieto administration, the fund has collected a total of MX$22 billion (US$1.05 billion).

Experts predict that 2021 will be a year of great challenges. In addition, public policies in Mexico often do not often provide certainty for businesses. However, mining has shown that it is an industry that can drive Mexico’s economy, wrote Rubén de J. Del Pozo Mendoza, from the Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico, in a column for Mexico Business News.

Technology

Laboratory information management systems are crucial for miners that want to stay current with the latest trends. This was the focus of a webinar held earlier this week and hosted by LabWare, the leader in LIMS, in collaboration with Mexico Business News.

To run flawless processing plants, carrying out unbiased metallurgical accounting is of the essence. However, most sampling equipment in the market is biased by design. Only a handful of manufacturers in the market, including Santiago de Chile-based TecProMin, produce unbiased systems. This sampling knowledge is today available in Mexico hand-in-hand with Promimex, TecProMin's distributor in the country.

SKF’s virtual technical press days took place recently. Under the title of “Bearings 2.0: What the Future Holds,” the event featured expert speakers who addressed how SKF’s innovations in bearing and rotating machinery will change the way end-users and manufacturers operate.