After signing an agreement with the Mexican government and the SNM Union to permanently reopen the Cosalá Operations in Sinaloa on July 6, Americas Gold and Silver Corp jointly inspected the facilities with union representatives and Government labor inspectors. Both the mine and the mill appear to be in good condition. A restart plan has been developed by local management and reviewed by the corporate office.
Mexican government inspectors from the Mexican Ministry of Labor were in Cosalá to review the restart plans, which should allow the company to begin recalling employees immediately following the completion of the inspection assuming compliance with the terms of the July 6 agreement, the company said.
Based on the favorable condition of the mine, the company anticipates that both the mine and the mill will be operating by the end of August and for the Cosalá Operation to be at full capacity by the start of the fourth quarter of 2021. The operation also has approximately 70,000 metric tons (mt) of ore in stockpile that can be processed as a contingency.
Once production has been initiated, it is anticipated the current higher silver prices will allow the company to target the higher-grade silver ores in the Upper Zone of San Rafael and develop the silver-copper EC120 project. Mining these areas of the Cosalá Operations is expected to increase silver production to more than 2.5 million ounces (oz) of silver per year in the years following the restart, the company said. Coupled with the exploration success at the Galena Complex in Idaho, where the company is targeting to reach peak historical annual production levels of approximately 5 million oz per year, the company expects to significantly increase silver production over the next few years.
