Sierra Metals Releases 1Q22 Report

In a press release, Sierra Metals presented its 1Q22 production results, including its mines in Mexico and Peru. This quarter, almost all of Sierra’s mining activities experienced a significant downturn, with zinc production affected the strongest through a 57 percent production decrease compared to 1Q21.

At the company’s Bolivar mine, located in Chihuahua, Mexico, results were negatively impacted due to the presence of intrusive rock in the Mina de Fierro zone and lower than expected grades from the Bolivar West orebody. This resulted in the throughput of over 187,000 processed tonnes, which represents a 50 percent decrease in comparison to the same quarter in 2021. According to the report, the grades of copper, silver and gold were 25, 44, and 16 percent lower respectively.  

Sierra already expects a recovery during the 2H22, as its mining activities at the Bolivar Northwest
Zone are expected to support the bulk of production during the year’s remaining quarters.

“An improvement is expected on a quarterly basis, in particular during the second half of the year, due to the full turnaround effort currently underway. The turnaround includes an aggressive infill drilling campaign to improve the quality of ore resource estimation, additional mine development in order to regain ore access and mining flexibility and addressing critical infrastructure shortcomings, as well as a full review of all processes,” Luis Marchese, CEO, Sierra Metals, said. 

The Cusi mine, located in Chihuahua, showed great results, with an average throughput of 964t/d, a 15 percent increase compared to 1Q21. Silver production reached 0.4Moz, an improvement of 34 percent. Gold production increased by 77 percent, totaling 1,923oz.  Lead production improved by 30 percent, reporting a total of 67.2Moz. A 37 percent increase was observed for Silver equivalent production, totaling 458,000oz. Although Cusi significantly improved the production figure, it is the smallest mine Sierra operates.  

“At Cusi, we are beginning to reap the benefits of investment in critical mine infrastructure throughout [2021], including improved ventilation with the addition of a raise bore, which alleviated high temperatures at depth, as well as new tailings damn. Cusi’s improved performance has helped support the consolidated production profile of the company. However, it remains our smallest mine, contributing only 10 percent to the overall revenue”, Marchese added. 

For the Peru-based Yaurichova project, the company reported that its production was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in personnel shortages during the first two months of 2022.