Photo by: Reuters
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NYSE-listed Great Panther Gold on Monday said it had restarted full mining and plant operations at its Guanajuato mine complex, in Mexico, after it was illegally occupied last week.
Great Panther, a primary silver producer, said that it had recovered its main administration building and plant facility in Guanajuato on Thursday, after which employees and contractors assessed the condition of the facilities and returned them to full operation.
"I would like to express my appreciation to all of our employees and contractors who wasted no time in cleaning up, conducting inventories, assessing damages and getting the plant up and running. This has been a very difficult week for everyone but our team really pulled together to get things back to normal,” president and CEO Robert Archer said.
The company added that it was working with authorities as they conduct an investigation into the illegal occupation.
The Guanajuato mine property is situated underneath the city of Guanajuato, which is located 380 km north-west of Mexico City, in the central plateau mountains.
Guanajuato comprises two operating shafts and three ramps in the second-largest silver producing district in Mexico. Mining is predominately from four locations, Guanajuatito, Pozos, Santa Margarita and Cata, with minor production from Promontorio and pillar recovery from the Rayas area. Ore is milled from the mining facilities at the centrally located 1 200 t/d capacity Cata plant.
Total measured and indicated reserves as at July 13, 2013, were 504 700 t grading 1.65 g/t of gold and 174 g/t of silver. Total inferred resources were 434 000 t grading 2.32 g/t of gold and 140 g/t of silver.
Great Panther is in the process of developing its San Ignacio project, with a view to production in the first half of this year, and has two exploration projects, El Horcon and Santa Rosa.