Company Provides Q4 2022 & Q1 2023 Production Estimate

 

Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd. (TSX-V:GSVR) (OTCQX:GSVRF) is pleased to announce the recommencement of mining at the Company’s 100% owned Valenciana Mines Complex, in Guanajuato, Mexico. Furthermore, the Company confirms that the planned restart of milling operations at the Cata processing facility is ahead of schedule and is expected to begin before year end.

 

Highlights:

• Mining of mineralized material has begun at the Valenciana Mines Complex; thus all of the mining assets acquired August 4 2022 – Topia, San Ignacio and VMC – are now in production (See GSilver news release dated August 4, 2022 – GSilver Closes Acquisition of Great Panther Mining Assets).
• The timetable for the restart of the Cata mill has been moved forward from early 2023 to Q4, 2022.
• The Company anticipates ending the year at a production run rate of approximately 3.4M AgEq ounces per annum; a more detailed Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 production estimate is outlined below.

James Anderson, Chairman and CEO said, “With the recommencement of mining at Valenciana, we have successfully revitalized another past producing silver mine within the Guanajuato Mining Camp where collectively more than 1.5 billion ounces of silver have been produced to date. We are extremely proud to be the owners and operators of this significant silver mine, and we are confident Valenciana will prove increasingly accretive for our shareholders.”

 

Restarting Valenciana:

Cut & fill mining of high-grade epithermal veins at Valenciana is currently focused on the Los Pozos mine area where several mineralized blocks had been previously defined. Los Pozos is one of several mines that extend over 4.2km of the Veta Madre regional fault system at the VMC and sits between the Cata and the Rayas shafts (see Figure 1 below). Mineralized material from Valenciana is currently being transported to El Cubo for processing; the Company expects to mine 5,000 tonnes per month at Valenciana throughout the remainder of 2022.

 

Cata Mill Restart Imminent:

The Cata processing facility is centrally located within the Valenciana Mines Complex and has a production capacity of 36,000 tonnes per month. In November 2021 Cata was placed on care & maintenance by its previous owner. GSilver had initially anticipated restarting the Cata mill in 2023, but with the rapid recommencement of mining at San Ignacio and the VMC, the Company now expects to restart mineral processing at Cata before the end of 2022. The Cata facility comprises three ball mills and uses a two-crusher system; once in operation, Cata is expected to produce a silver-gold concentrate like that which is currently being produced at El Cubo. The Cata processing facility is in good condition and requires no significant additional capital expenditures prior to restart.

 

Figure 1: Valenciana Mines Complex Longitudinal View

Cautionary Note: Figure 1 has been extracted from the corporate presentation of Great Panther Mining Limited titled “GMC Mineral Resource Estimate Review, January 2022” (effective date July 31, 2021). GPML is the previous owner of the Valenciana Mine Complex (referred to by GPML as the Guanajuato Mine Complex or GMC) and all of the resource estimates included in Figure 1 are historical in nature. GSilver is not treating these estimates as current mineral resources as a qualified person on behalf of GSilver has not done sufficient work to classify these estimates as current mineral resources.ⁱ

 

GSilver Provides Preliminary Fourth Quarter 2022 and First Quarter 2023 Production Estimate*:

The Company anticipates ending 2022 at a combined production run rate of approximately 3.4M AgEq ounces per annum. Production ramp-up is expected to continue at all operations through Q1, 2023.

*This production estimate is based on the Company’s estimate of current mineral resources and quantities of mineralized material at its mining projects. At present, the Company does not have any mineral reserves as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mineral resources and mineralized material that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them, and may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-political, marketing, and other relevant issues.

 

Technical Information

Reynaldo Rivera, VP of Exploration of GSilver, has approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Rivera is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM – Registration Number 220979) and a “qualified person” as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

 

About Guanajuato Silver

GSilver is a precious metals producer engaged in reactivating past producing silver and gold mines near the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, which has an established 480-year mining history. With five mines and three processing facilities, the Company is one of the fastest growing silver producers in Mexico.