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El Limón Guajes mine complex, Mexico

26th June 2020

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Name: El Limón Guajes (ELG) mine complex.

Location: The ELG mine complex is located in Guerrero State, in Mexico.

Mine Owner/s: ELG is wholly owned by Torex Gold through its Mexican subsidiary, Minera Media Luna.

Brief Description: The ELG mine complex operates three independent openpits to extract ore from the skarn hosted gold/silver Guajes and El Limón deposits; and an underground operation comprising  the Sub-Sill and El Limón Deep deposits.

Brief History: The ELG mine complex has been in operation since December 2015 and reached commercial production in April 2016.

Primary Metals/Minerals: Gold.

Secondary Metals/Minerals: Silver.

Geology/Mineralisation: Gold and silver mineralisation at El Limón and Guajes extends 1 700 m along strike, with widths up to 90 m. Mineralisation at El Limón has been intercepted to a depth of 470 m from surface and intercepted at Guajes to a depth of 300 m from surface. The deepest mineralisation known to date was intercepted to a depth of 650 m from the surface between the Sub-Sill deposit and Limón Sur.

Mineralisation at the Sub-Sill deposit is primarily gold, associated with variable contents of silver and copper. Gold occurs in low and high sulphidised pyrrhotite-rich skarns, while silver and copper mineralisation is primarily determined by the degree of sulphidation of the host skarn. Mineralisation is strongly associated with a late stage retrograde alteration characterised by amphiboles, chlorite, calcite ± quartz ± epidote, affecting pyroxene-garnet marble related exoskarn and granodiorite porphyry related endoskarn. Locally mineralisation occurs in narrow lenses of massive sulphides.

Reserves: The ELG openpits contained total proven and probable reserves, as at December 31, 2019, were estimated at  21.4-million tonnes grading 2.76 g/t gold and 3.6 g/t silver. The underground mine contained total proven and probable reserves of 1.72-million tonnes grading 6.51 g/t gold and 7.4 g/t silver.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources for the ELG openpit as at December 31, 2019, were estimated at 24.85-million tonnes grading 2.97 g/t gold and 4.1 g/t silver. Inferred resources were estimated at 2.42-million tonnes grading 1.88 g/t gold and 4.9 g/t silver.

Total measured and indicated resources for the ELG underground mine as at December 31, 2019, were estimated at 2.87-million tonnes grading 7.07 g/t gold and 8.4 g/t silver. Inferred resources were estimated at 2.44-million tonnes grading 5.69 g/t gold and 6.4 g/t silver.

Mining Method: Openpit – conventional shovel-truck mining, and underground – mechanised cut-and-fill.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The ELG mine complex comprises a centralised processing facility, with a targeted throughput rate of 14 000 t/d, as well as the ELG openpit and underground mines. The operation uses filtered tailings, a process in which the moisture content of tailings is reduced to 17%. Tailings are then conveyed and stacked within the storage facility, which will be revegetated upon closure.

Major production equipment on site includes three 114 mm and six 171 mm drills equipped for down-the-hole (DTH) hammer drilling, three 15 m3 hydraulic shovels, four 12 m3 wheeled loaders, twenty-two 90 t haulage trucks, seven bulldozers, three graders, two water trucks, and a small excavator. Life-of-mine plan equipment additions include three drills, two haulage trucks, a wheel bulldozer, and an additional small excavator.

Prospects: By the beginning of 2024, the openpit portion of ELG will be mined out and Torex expects to be mining exclusively from underground resources, primarily from Media Luna.

Media Luna is an underground deposit, which primarily contains gold, silver, and copper mineralisation. The deposit is located on the south side of the Balsas river, about 7 km from the ELG processing plant, which is situated on the north side of the river.

Contact Details:
Torex Gold
Tel +1 647 260 1500
Website https://www.torexgold.com

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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