Overview
The La Encantada Silver Mine is 100% owned by First Majestic Silver Corp. and includes a 4,000 tpd cyanidation mill. The site encompasses 4,076 hectares of mining rights and 1,343 hectares of surface rights. The La Encantada property has been in First Majestic's portfolio of assets since 2006 and has since become one of the Company's largest producing silver mines.
Stage
Production
Resource
Silver
Ownership
100%
Hectares
4,076
2021E Production
3.4M – 3.7M Ag oz
2021E All-In-Sustaining Costs
$13.72 – $14.70
Proven & Probable Reserves
9.6M Ag oz
Measured & Indicated
30.3M Ag oz
Inferred
20.1M Ag oz
Location
The La Encantada Silver Mine is located in northern Mexico, 708 km northeast of Torreon, Coahuila. Access to the mine is via a road from Muzquiz to Boquillas del Cármen, Coahuila. This route consists of a 165 km paved road and a 45 km dirt road, taking approximately 2.5 hours to travel. Nearby infrastructures include an airstrip, housing, offices, ancillary buildings, a laboratory, a restaurant, a general store and a recreation facility.
Mining & Milling Operations
Construction of the new cyanidation mill has undergone several improvements in recent years. Most recently, the plant was further upgraded in 2015 with the installations of a new 12' x 24' ball mill, tertiary crusher, two vibrating screens and a series of conveyor belts. In 2016, the Company began on the permitting and engineering work for a new roaster to reprocess all of the above ground tailings. Once in full production, the Company expects to recover an additional 1.5 million ounces from the reprocessing of above ground tailings.
A fully functional 1,000 tpd flotation mill is also located at La Encantada. Historically, this flotation mill was the primary method of silver production over the past 30 years; however, with the cyanidation plant now operating at full capacity, production of lead concentrate through the flotation circuit was suspended in June 2010 and the circuit is currently in care-and-maintenance.
Operating Highlights
| La Encantada Production Results | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ore Processed/Tonnes Milled | 860,613 | 916,894 | 916,894 | 825,486 |
| Average Silver Grade (g/tonne) | 162 | 146 | 95 | 127 |
| Recovery (%) | 88% | 74% | 57% | 64% |
| Total Silver Ounces Produced | 3,505,953 | 3,083,410 | 1,603,740 | 2,178,032 |
| Gold Ounces Produced | 241 | 190 | 89 | 79 |
| Total Production - Ounces Silver Equivalent | 3,526,776 | 3,099,717 | 1,610,895 | 2,183,899 |
| Underground Development (m) | 3,674 | 5,444 | 6,078 | 3,064 |
| Diamond Drilling (m) | 18,611 | 17,739 | 19,461 | 15,370 |
Local Geology, Mineralization & Ore Types
The mineralogy of the deposits at La Encantada is predominantly iron oxides, carbonates and lead sulphates with high concentrations of silver (argentite and native silver) values as the result of an oxidation process and enrichment in a known vertical range of more than 400 meters. Beneath the elevation 1,600 meters, there is a presence of sulphides of Pb-Ag-Zn in the SW part of the La Encantada mine (La Morena ore-bodies).
For more detailed geological information readers are encouraged to review the Company's most recent NI 43-101 Technical Report (PDF).
The Reserves/Resources inventories are reported in NI 43-101 Technical Reports published periodically by the Company. The complete report can be viewed in the Reserves/Resources section or on SEDAR.
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