Name of the Mine
San Rafael mine.

Location  
Cosalá district of Sinaloa, Mexico.

Mine Owner/s  
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation.

Brief Description  
San Rafael is a low-cost silver/zinc/lead underground mine, about 9 km from the Los Bracero’s mill. The mine forms part of Americas Gold and Silver’s Cosalá Operations.

Brief History  
Construction started at San Rafael in September 2016, with commercial production declared in December 2017.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
The San Rafael mine produces two concentrate products: a lead-silver concentrate and a zinc-silver concentrate.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
Gold and copper.

Geology/Mineralisation  
The surface geology of the San Rafael area is dominated by intrusive and extrusive volcanic rocks that make up much of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Cretaceous limestone, commonly recrystallised and marbleised, but only locally skarn-altered, is exposed within windows in the Tertiary volcanic rocks and is the oldest unit identified to date in the San Rafael-EC120 area.

Reserves  
Total proven and probable reserves as at June 30, 2021, were estimated at 1.96-million tonnes grading 128 g/t silver, 3.24% zinc and 1.3% lead.

Resources  
Total measured and indicated mineral resources, excluding mineral reserves, as at June 30, 2021, were estimated at 3.23-million tonnes grading 87 g/t silver, 2.25% zinc and 0.98% lead. Inferred resources were estimated at 348 000 t grading 149 g/t silver, 0.38% zinc and 2.47% lead.

Mining Method  
Underground – post-pillar cut-and-fill.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
The underground mine is accessed through a decline, with portals at surface near the southern portion of the deposit, where the surface infrastructure is located. This includes change and lunch rooms, mine offices, a surface shop, a tyre-change facility, a warehouse, a concrete preparation area, diesel fuel storage facility and a parking area.

A series of ramp systems from the main decline provides access to the various stoping areas of the mine. Primary mine ventilation is provided by two vertical bored raises and the main decline.

San Rafael ore has been the exclusive feed for the Los Braceros processing plant since November 2017. The processing plant is a conventional polymetallic concentrator currently configured to produce zinc and lead concentrates.

Electrical power for the plant is supplied from the national grid.

Of the total water used in the process plant, between 67% and 75% is recovered from the tailings thickeners and recirculation from the tailings storage facility. Fresh, top-up water is provided for from nearby wells.

Zinc and lead concentrate shipments from San Rafael are transported by bulk transport trucks from the Los Braceros processing facility to the port in Manzanillo.

Prospects  
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation reports in its production outlook and 2021 production results that silver production is expected to increase over the next two years as production ramps up to the higher-silver-grade upper zone of the San Rafael deposit at the Cosalá Operations.

Contact Details
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation Tel +1 416 848 9503
Email info@americas-gold.com
Website https://www.americas-gold.com/

Sources
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation. Technical report on the San Rafael mine and the EC120 preliminary feasibility study, Sinaloa, Mexico (May 17, 2019).
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation. Mineral reserve and mineral resources statement – June 30, 2021.
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation. Americas Gold and Silver Corporation provides multiyear production outlook and 2021 production results (February 22, 2022).
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation. Website https://www.americas-gold.com/ [accessed: March 9, 2022].