Junior miner Silver Bullet Mines on Monday announced the arrival of its third shipping container that holds the final major components to complete construction of its mill near Globe, in Arizona.
“The delivery of the motor and drive train was the only major factor beyond our control. It’s been painful to see costs increase while we wait for these items,” CEO John Carter said in a statement.
He reported that it should take between 30 and 40 days to complete construction, following which the team would run through two weeks’ worth of low-grade material to fine-tune the components.
The company aimed to have a saleable product in April.
In anticipation of the mill’s imminent completion, Silver Bullet stockpiled mineralised material extracted from the Buckeye Silver mine. Once in production, the company would produce silver dore bars, which it would sell to a smelter or commodities trader.
Cash payments would buttress Silver Bullet’s treasury, which since the start of the pandemic had suffered through escalating costs of shipping, parts, supplies, fuel, services and equipment.
“Getting into production logically leads to risk-mitigating cash flow into the company,” said Carter.
“Then we can turn our efforts to the Washington mine, in Idaho, and the McMorris mine, in Arizona, both former producers.
The Washington mine seems to be even better than we expected, as shown by the recent bulk sample results returning 55.5 oz/t silver,” commented Carter.