In January, these mine operations generated 329,934 silver-equivalent (AgEq) ounces, derived from 141,854 oz. of silver, 1,843 oz. of gold, 279,726 lb. of lead and 269,276 lb. of zinc. The AgEq output represents the second highest level of production in the company’s history, bettered only by May 2023, it said.
January also represents the first month of the recently announced third party processing agreement for the El Cubo complex, which added 40,862 AgEq ounces, or 12% of total consolidated production for the month.
Total tonnes mined across Guanajuato’s operations also increased by 32% over December to total 56,691 tonnes. The company processes mineralized material at three production facilities: El Cubo, Cata (VMC) and Topia.
El Horcon, host to a past-producing mine, currently processes material from an existing stockpile. In January, it generated 10,183 AgEq ounces, or 3% of the month’s output. To date, El Horcon has produced over 37,000 AgEq ounces since starting processing the stockpiled material late in 2023.
Guanajuato CEO James Anderson said that the two sources of mineralized material, El Horcon and those at El Cubo, represent a “significant component of total production” and have contributed to generating the company’s highest volume of silver-equivalent production since May 2023.
“January’s results are further confirmation that the adjustments and efficiency upgrades implemented at our mines during the later-half of 2023 have us on-track in terms of quarter-over-quarter increases in precious metals production,” Anderson said.
Shares of Guanajuato Silver dipped 5.2% to C$0.18 apiece by 12:15 p.m. ET, nearly a 52-week low of C$0.17 (high was C$0.65). The precious metals miner has a market capitalization of C$63.6 million ($46.9m).