Pre-concentrate produced at the Cieneguita mill is shipped for further processing at MRT’s mill at Choix, Mexico, where final concentrates are produced and shipped to the Trafigura warehouse in Manzanillo for sale under a contract with Trafigura.
Prior to the recent installation and commissioning of the ball mill and additional flotation cells, bulk sulfide pre-concentrate production included 380 tonnes in July, 462 tonnes in August, and 499 tonnes in September of 2010.
In October, over 1,000 tonnes were produced, although only 702 tonnes were shipped due to the installation schedule associated with the filtration/drying equipment, which is now fully installed and operating.
It is estimated that over 1,500 tonnes will be shipped in November, including the unshipped October production.
Following further treatment at Choix, final lead and zinc concentrates are shipped for sale to Trafigura in Manzanillo, Mexico.
MRT, the company’s partner, has advised the company that it expects to continue increasing pre-concentrate production at Cieneguita along with improved metal recoveries as the ball mill grinding process is fine-tuned.
The amount of ore material mined and processed at Cieneguita is currently about 500 tons per day and it is intended to increase this amount to 600 tons per day by year end.
This amount of ore production would relate to the production of approximately 260 tons of concentrate per month with metal contents similar to current concentrate shipments.
