Name: Caylloma mine.
Location: Caylloma is located in Arequipa, Peru.
Mine Owner/s: The mine is operated by Fortuna’s 100%-owned subsidiary, Minera Bateas.
Brief Description: Caylloma is an operating underground operation located at an elevation of between 4 300 m and 5 000 m above sea level. The property comprises mining concessions, surface rights, a permitted 1 500 t/d flotation plant, connection to the national electric power grid, permits for camp facilities for 890 people and the infrastructure necessary to sustain mining operations.
The mine comprises mineral rights for 66 mining concessions for 34 472 ha. Bateas has signed 21 surface rights or easement contracts covering 3 529.89 ha, with land owners to cover the surface area needed for the operation and tailings facilities.
Brief History: The earliest documented mining activity in the Caylloma District dates back to that of Spanish miners in 1620. English miners conducted activities in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Several companies have been involved in mining the district of Caylloma, but limited records are available to detail these activities.
The Caylloma mine was acquired by Compania Minera Arcata (CMA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hochschild Mining, in 1981. Fortuna acquired the mine from CMA in 2005.
Following significant expansion and modernisation of the mill, the mine resumed production in the final quarter of 2006.
Primary Metals/Minerals: Silver.
Secondary Metals/Minerals: Gold, lead and zinc.
Geology/Mineralisation: The silver-/base metal-rich epithermal vein deposits of the Caylloma mining district are hosted by tertiary calc-alkaline andesitic pyroclastic tuffs and tuff breccias, flows and laharic deposits, which unconformably overlie a folded marine sequence of quartzite, shale and limestone of the Jurassic Yura Group. More than 15 major mineralised veins have been identified within the district, with the veins typically trending north-easterly and dipping to the south-east or north-west.
The veins range from 1 m to 25 m in width and 4 km in length. Ore grade shoots are generally subvertical in orientation within the plane of the vein, having lengths of tens to hundreds of metres and extending to more than 300 m in a downdip direction. Principal ore minerals include sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite with subordinate polybasite, stephanite, argentite, native silver, pyrargyrite, miargyrite, chalcocite, native gold, and other lead and silver sulphosalts. Principal gangue minerals are quartz, manganese-rich silicates (dominantly rhodonite), rhodocrosite and calcite, with variable quantities of adularia, illite and barite present locally.
Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2019, were estimated at 2.46-million tonnes grading 81 g/t silver, 0.21 g/t gold, 2.41% lead and 3.83 % zinc.
Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at December 31, 2019, were estimated at 2.35-million tonnes grading 106 g/t silver, 0.33 g/t gold, 1.67% lead and 3.06% zinc. Inferred resources were estimated 4.06-million tonnes grading 112 g/t silver, 0.37 g/t gold, 2.58% lead and 4% silver.
Mining Method: Overhand cut-and-fill.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The operation consists primarily of the concentration plant, electrical power station, water storage facilities, tailings facilities, stockpiles and workshop facilities, all connected by unsealed roads. Additional structures located at the mine include offices, a dining hall, laboratory, core logging and core storage warehouses.
Prospects: Fortuna is investigating the extensions of three ore shoots along the Animas vein and the possible extension of mineral resources along the San Cristobal silver vein located to the north of the Cayolla mine.
Contact Details:
Fortuna Silver
Tel +1 604 484 4085
Email info@fortunasilver.com
Website https://www.fortunasilver.com