Americas Gold and Silver to 'expedite' Mexico project due to higher prices

Toronto-based Americas Gold and Silver decided to “expedite” the development of the EC120 project (ex-El Cajón) at its Cosalá operations in Sinaloa, Mexico, due to the current high silver and copper prices, the company said in a statement. 

“The company is in the documentation phase with a metal trader to provide concentrate prepayment financing for the entire capital requirement at its 100%-owned El Cajón and zone 120 silver-copper project (EC120 project) at the Cosalá operations,” it said.

Americas Gold and Silver, which operates in Mexico and the US, expects to close the financing this quarter. It aims to complete the required development and preparations to produce higher-grade silver-copper concentrates from the project at the beginning of 2025.

The Canadian company said that initial access to the zone 120 deposit occurred in 3Q23 from the San Rafael upper zone development. “In addition, the company continues mining and processing silver-zinc ore from the San Rafael main and upper zones and is pleased with the increase in zinc prices so far in the second quarter,” the statement said.

The company’s consolidated attributable silver production in Q1 was approximately 482,000oz, compared with about 500,000oz in 1Q23. 

While silver production was down year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, quarterly silver output has trended in a positive direction over the last three years and the company expects this to continue.

“This upward trend in production is expected from increased working faces at the Galena complex as well as the exploitation of EC120 at the Cosalá operations, which contains high-grade silver and copper mineralization,” it said. 

The Cosalá operations produced approximately 295,000oz of silver, 2.8Mlb (1,270t) of lead, and 8.0Mlb of zinc in Q1 compared with 265,000oz of silver, 2.7Mlb of lead and 7.2Mlb of zinc in 1Q23. 

The company also owns the San Felipe development project in Sonora, Mexico.