TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Base metals miner Sierra Metals expects an improved connection to the Mexican power grid to result in lower costs, improved operational stability and open the option for further expansions at its Bolivar copper/silver/zinc mine.
The TSX- and BVL-listed company on Thursday announced that, as of 17:20 local time on Tuesday, the Agua Caliente power substation connection to the new 115 kW line was activated and by 20:12, the Piedras Verdes ore processing plant was running off of the 33 kW line from the substation.
The Bolivar mine had been in commercial production since 2012 using a less reliable grid connection, supplemented with diesel generators, which were prone to shutdowns and disruptions.
The property comprised 12 mining concessions covering about 6 616 ha within the municipality of Urique, in the Piedras Verdes mining district of Chihuahua state.
"Our Bolivar mine has a strong record of output expansion. We successfully expanded the mine ore throughput from about 1 000 t/d in 2012 to 2 000 t/d. In 2015, we plan to increase the ore throughput to 2 500 t/d and with the new power line, another expansion in the future should be possible as well, enhancing our operation efficiency and unit costs,” president and CEO Audra Walsh noted.
For the 12 months ended December, Bolivar produced 14 946 lbs of copper, 396 421 oz of silver and 2 485 oz of gold.
The Canadian miner also operates the Yauricocha mine, in Peru, and the Cusi mine, in Mexico, while it has several gold/silver/copper exploration properties in the two countries.
The company’s TSX-quoted stock gained 4% on Thursday to C$1.55 apiece.