TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based Pan American Silver has begun producing silver and zinc concentrates at its San Vincente mine, in Bolivia, the firm announced on Wednesday.

Pan American owns 95% of the mine and the balance is held by a State-owned company.

The company decided to build its own processing facility at the mine and ramp up throughput rates, after discovering a high-grade litoral vein system.

Before that, ore was trucked to a small third-party mill for processing.

Pan American started commissioning the new 750-t/d facility in mid-January, and expects San Vicente to reach design capacity “within the next few months”.

At full capacity, the mine is expected to contribute just less than three-million ounces a year to Pan American's production profile.

Altogether, the company, which also officially opened its Manantial Espejo mine, in Argentina, last month, expects to produce 21,5-million ounces of silver this year, at cash costs of $6,28/oz.

Pan American Silver shares rose 3,46% on Wednesday, to C$23,04 apiece by 16:10 in Toronto.

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