Great Panther Silver, whose extensive portfolio of mineral holdings in Mexico is capped off by their 2,735-acre flagship Guanajuato Mine Complex (28 claims, 100%-owned concessions) that sits atop the prolific Veta Madre vein structure, reported some solid developmental news today out of their 48-acre San Ignacio Project (100%-owned) just 13.6 miles to the west by road, which covers some 2.5 miles of strike length on the La Luz vein system (parallel to the Veta Madre), as word comes in that the Environmental Impact Permit has been secured.
Well on-track to achieving their fiscal 2013 production target of some 2.5M silver equivalent ounces, GPL is set to ramp up development of the San Ignacio now that they have this final permit in hand and they have already begun construction of a roadway over 1.2 miles in length, intended to serve as access for the new portal/ramp and the mine’s overall development. The ramp will be constructed to just over 1k feet long, extending to the first target zone (Intermediate Vein), at which point underground bulk sampling will be utilized to conduct a full scale metallurgical evaluation.
This evaluation, as well as the eventual processing of ore from San Ignacio, will be completed at the company’s existing Cata plant over on the Guanajuato site and the evaluation itself will determine whether or not the ores will eventually be blended from the two sites prior to processing or not. As per the latest NI 43-101 on San Ignacio, the Intermediate Vein hosts an inferred resource of some 330k tonnes at 144 g/t Ag with 2.71 g/t Au, or roughly 3.274M ounces of silver equivalent, numbers expected to be validated and moved to the indicated category post an upcoming infill drilling program (scheduled to start in October). VP of Exploration for GPL, Robert Brown, P.Eng., is the NI 43-101 Qualified Person for the San Ignacio Project.
President and CEO of GPL, Robert Archer, P.Geo., called reception of this final permit a major milestone for the company and noted that since they already have their explosives permit, the 2014 production start date set for San Ignacio looks assured. Archer pegged 100 tonnes/day as an initial output figure from San Ignacio and explained that, given the obvious logistical analog of the nearby Guanajuato silver-gold mines, which are underground operations using standard cut-and-fill mining, ramping up output to the 250 tonnes/day target set for late 2014 should be no problem at all.
Archer underscored the significance to markets of GPL having fulfilled their intentions to utilize existing Cata plant processing capacity, as a clear sign of both the company’s vision and their ability to execute successfully on that vision. Increasing production throughput significantly, without the burden of additional infrastructural CAPEX outlays, is a real masterstroke for GPL management and as production dawns at San Ignacio, shareholders can rest assured that fixed unit costs at Guanajuato will be reduced while overall operation cash costs follow suit. Amazing follow through here by GPL and the combination of solid new digs, backed up by an immediate structural reference model already cut over at Guanajuato, means the logistical bonuses at San Ignacio from using existing processing capacity and such are just icing on the revenue cake.
The company has already redone all of the office space, as well as the changing rooms, water, and communications facilities at San Ignacio. Personnel for initial setup and all of the hardware GPL needs will simply be sourced from Guanajuato, making the overall cost structure extremely appealing to keen investors. Support infrastructure like the electrical substation, mechanical service facilities, and the dump pad will go in as soon as the access road is up, and investors should note that GPL has a very short path here to increased portfolio production ounces.
More info is available at www.GreatPanther.com
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