The Santa Elena Mine operation consists of the Santa Elena and Ermitaño underground mines. In December 2022 active mining operations at the Santa Elena mine were temporarily suspended. The Ermitaño mine went into production in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The Ermitaño mine produces primarily gold, and it dominated Santa Elena’s production in 2022. For 2023, strong gold production is expected to continue as development will focus primarily on Ermitaño, and the plant will only process Ermitaño ores. First Majestic identified a new vein in the Santa Elena mine, called Silvanna, and plans to aggressively drill test the area in 2023 with the goal of finding and defining mineralization of economic grade along the new vein.
First Majestic Silver successfully upgraded Santa Elena's LNG powerplant with four additional generators, increasing capacity from 12MW to 24MW, to supply low-cost, clean power to the Ermitaño mine and the new dual-circuit plant. |