TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Minefinders Corporation, which has suffered several delays as a result of blockades at its Dolores gold/silver mine, in Mexico, has finally poured its first gold and silver dore at the openpit operation.

The company has halted development and construction at the mine several times this year, after protesters claiming to represent the local community blocked access to the site and threatened employees and contractors.

The first pour was a “significant milestone” and production will now ramp up as ore tons under leach increase and leach recovery curves reach their peaks, president and CEO Mark Bailey said in a statement.

The three stage crushing and stacking rates have reached sustained levels between 12 000 t/d and 16 000 t/dy and are expected to reach design capacity of 18 000 t per day by the end of the year, the company said.

"While the gold and silver prices remain significantly higher than our expected production costs, we acknowledge the importance of cautious cash management in this volatile economic and financial environment," commented Bailey.

"We continue to closely monitor our cash requirements and are actively reducing cash expenditures where possible. We are also working on initiatives that could increase precious metals recovery and expand production capacity at Dolores going forward."

The Dolores project contains proven and probable reserves of 2,44-million ounces of gold and 126,6-million ounces of silver, with exploration upside and an openpit mine life of over 15 years.

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