Canadian polymetallic mining company Sierra Metals said that its expansion plans at the Bolivar Mine in Mexico are on track.
Image: A native copper. Photo: courtesy of Native_Copper_Macro_Digon3.jpg: “Jonathan Zander (Digon3)"/ derivative work: Materialscientist (talk)/Wikipedia.
In July 2018 we announced the results of a preliminary economic assessment at Bolivar to achieve a sustainable and staged increase in mine production and mill throughput from 3,000 tonnes per day (“TPD”), to 3,600 TPD in Q1-2019, and to 5,000 TPD by mid-2020.
Completion of the expansion included the installation of a refurbished mill, an electrical substation with 1250 KVA of capacity, a secondary crusher and a hydrocyclone cluster that allows for finer grind size optionality that is estimated to provide a 6% increase in copper recoveries from 80% to 86% at Bolivar Mine.
The expansion was completed with a world class safety performance with zero lost time incidents and zero accidents reported. The Company used local engineering firms and local qualified contractors and technicians for the expansion project, with Sierra Metals staff conducting most of the supervision.
Sierra Metals president and CEO Igor Gonzales said: “We are very pleased with the progress made with our expansion plans at the Bolivar Mine. With the early completion of construction at the Piedras Verdes Mill, we will deliver on our goal of a 20% increase in production from 3,000 TPD to 3,600 TPD, in Q1-2019.”
“The expansion at Bolivar represents the first of many exciting milestones for Sierra Metals in 2019 as we continue toward our goal of creating additional value to the company and its shareholders. This expansion will contribute through a 20% increase in production rates, a 6% increase in copper recoveries and a decrease in costs per unit.”
He concluded, “With increased production capacity at Bolivar Mine, we remain focused on our brownfield exploration program and the importance of continuing to add to our reserves and resources. With the discovery of future resource additions, we believe that this expansion will allow for potential new copper pounds discovered to be incorporated into production plans earlier than if the Company had maintained a lower capacity level.”
Source: Company Press Release