Canadian silver miner First Majestic Silver exercised its option agreements over the Ermitaño and Cumobabi projects and has earned 100% of these projects, which are located near its operating Santa Elena mine, in Sonara, Mexico.
In terms of a 2014 option agreement with Evrim Resources, First Majestic has made a $1.5-million cash payment to the company and has granted to Evrim a 2% net smelter return royalty (NSR) in the case of the Ermitaño project and a 1.5% NSR in the case of the Cumobabi project.
“Our exploration results at the Ermitaño West project have been extremely successful over the past 18 months and provide evidence of the regional potential across our vast 101 772 ha of mining concessions to build additional resources in close proximity to our Santa Elena operation,” said First Majestic president and CEO Keith Neumeyer.
The Ermitaño property has a maiden inferred resource of 40.8-million silver equivalent ounces and Neumeyer said that it had the potential to become a new, near-term source of production.
The Ermitaño property consists of 16 526 ha of mining concessions located adjacent to the Santa Elena claims, which host the producing Santa Elena main vein and First Majestic’s 3 000 t/d processing plant.
The Cumobabi property consists of 22 258 ha of mining concessions located south-east of the Ermitaño property.
“First Majestic’s ongoing advancement of the Ermitaño West deposit will continue to create significant value for Evrim shareholders. First Majestic is in the midst of a 13 000 m infill and expansion drilling programme at Ermitaño West that is designed to extend the deposit at depth, to the west, and to test the Aitana vein. We also look forward to additional work at the Cumobabi project where drilling was completed over the past year,” said Evrim CEO Paddy Nicol.