EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT

Pan American Silver reports maiden La Colorada skarn resource

Shares on a tear as size and grades point to a word-class deposit, says CEO

Staff Reporter
On site at La Colorada in Mexico

On site at La Colorada in Mexico

The skarn deposit hosts an inferred resource of 72.5 million tonnes grading 44 grams per tonne silver, 0.17% copper, 2.02% lead and 4.4% zinc for 3.2 million tonnes zinc, 1.5Mt lead and 121,000t copper, using a cut-off value of US$60/t after smelting, refining and transportation costs.

The defined resource is east of the La Colorada mine between 600-1,700m below surface, with most of the mineralisation contained within a larger polymetallic mineralised skarn covering an area about 500m by 600m.

"This initial resource estimate is a very exciting development for Pan American Silver and our La Colorada operation," said CEO Michael Steinmann. "The substantial size and grades point to a world-class deposit, discovered with our near-site exploration programme."

The company relied on 54,000m of drilling in 65 diamond holes underpinning the initial resource statement.

The company said bench-scale metallurgical testing in the laboratory on core composite samples had indicated "encouraging" selective polymetallic flotation recoveries producing high-quality silver-rich copper, lead and zinc concentrates.

In 2020, Pan American has budgeted $10 million to drill 44,000m focusing on infill and exploration drilling to further define, expand and add confidence to the resource.

La Colorada is expected to produce 8-8.2Moz silver and 4,100-4,800oz gold in 2019.

The company's Toronto-listed shares (TSX:PAAS) have gained nearly 50% in the past 12 months to C$27.31, with the intraday high of $27.34 flirting with the 12-month high of $27.56. Pan American has a market cap of $5.7 billion.

 

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