Month: February 2019

Paul Benson, President and CEO said, “SSR Mining had another successful year in 2018 as we continued our track record of achieving production and cost guidance for the seventh consecutive year while transitioning to commercial production at Chinchillas. We maintained a strong balance sheet after a year of investment that brought a new mine into production, delivered reserve growth and included our strategic investment in SilverCrest Metals.

Aura Minerals Inc. announces the appointment of Kleber Cardoso as VP Finance and the departure of Ryan Goodman as VP Legal Affairs.

McEwen Mining achieved record production of 175,640 gold equivalent ounces at cash costs of $817 per GEO and all-in sustaining costs of $1,002 per GEO. Our 2019 production guidance is 210,000GEOs, a 20% increase over 2018 production, at average cash costs and AISC per GEO of $877 and $1,034, respectively. During 2018, we invested heavily in areas that we believe will enhance our future growth and profitability. We invested $35 million in exploration, $66 million in construction at the Gold Bar Mine in Nevada, and $10 million to advance our Fenix and Los Azules projects. As a result we are reporting a consolidated net loss for 2018 of $45 million, or $0.13 per share.

Fred Stanford, President & CEO of Torex stated: “2018 is now in the record books and it left some memories. Most of the memories are very good. Excellent safety and environmental performance, record production, Sub-Sill ramped up, SART plant ramp-up, successful exploration at Sub-Sill and ELD, successful infill drilling at Media Luna, and rapid advance of the Muckahi technology. A couple of experiences weren’t quite so fulfilling. Hopefully, this is the last time I ever use the word ‘blockade’ in a press release and we didn’t quite get to design levels in the processing plant (93%). We could spend capex to close the gap, but don’t see it as a good investment since the future underground ores are softer and don’t need the capacity that the investment would produce. We’ll diligently work on the last 7% the old-fashioned way, with continuous improvement in operations and maintenance practices. Life will continue, if it takes a bit longer to get there. A year of operating at 93% adds a month to the six-year mine life of the open pits, which in effect, delays the need for the investment in the replacement underground ores.

At San Sebastian – Mexico: Silver production was 443,302 ounces for the fourth quarter and 2,037,072 ounces for the full year of 2018 compared to 759,100 and 3,257,738 for the same periods of 2017. Gold production was 2,928 ounces for the fourth quarter and 14,979 ounces for the full year of 2018, compared to 5,955 and 25,177 for the same periods of 2017. The lower metal production was expected due to lower grades as a result of the transition from shallow, high-grade open pits to underground production. The mill operated at an average of 487 tpd in the fourth quarter 2018 and 429 tpd for the year.

Ken, along with Melvin A. Herdrick, PGeo, Technical Advisor, and Isidro Flores, M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Sonora, Country Geologist, will assist in the evaluation and development of the Los Venados project in Mulatos, Sonora, Mexico.