Endeavour Silver Corp. recently received the final tailings permit for the Terronera silver-gold mine project in Jalisco state, Mexico. The Authorization to Change Soil Use on Forest Land, or ETJ permit, was issued by the Mexican Ministry of Environment (SEMARNAT). Endeavour Silver now has the right to store tailings from the Terronera high-grade, underground, silver-gold mine in a secure, filtered dry stack tailings facility adjacent to the proposed plant site.
According to the company, dry stack tailings facilities cost more to build and operate than conventional wet tailings facilities, but are safer and “greener” and represent the future of tailings storage.
Now that the Terronera mine project is fully permitted, Endeavour Silver plans to complete a final improved prefeasibility study in the third quarter and arrange appropriate financing to build Endeavour’s next core asset.
Following an estimated 18-month construction period, the Terronera mine is expected to produce more than 5-million-oz silver equivalents (at an 80:1 silver:gold ratio) over a minimum 12 year mine life, at an all-in sustaining cost per oz of silver produced in the lowest quartile of industry peers.
