Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Open Pit & Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Bench & Fill
- Cut & Fill
- Longhole stoping
- Cemented backfill
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 10 years (as of Jan 1, 2021) |
Ore from underground mines have recently been—and will continue to be—the main source of feed for the El Peñón mill. Currently, ore is sourced from one small active open pit mine (Chiquilla Chica) and from five of the seven major underground mining zones. |
Source:
p. 13
Company | Interest | Ownership |
Yamana Gold Inc.
|
100 %
|
Indirect
|
Minera Meridian Ltda.
(operator)
|
100 %
|
Direct
|

The El Peñón Mine is owned by Yamana through its wholly- owned subsidiary Minera Meridian Ltda.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Vein / narrow vein
- Epithermal
Summary:
El Peñón is classified as a low- to intermediate-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver deposit associated with steeply dipping fault-controlled veins emplaced following rhyolite dome emplacement. Gold and silver mineralization consists of disseminations of electrum, native gold and silver, acanthite, silver sulphosalts, halides, and accessory pyrite occurring with quartz, adularia, carbonates, and clay minerals (Pearson and Rennie, 2008). Epithermal deposits represent shallow parts of larger, mainly subaerial, hydrothermal systems formed at temperatures as high as about 300°C and at depths from about 50 to as much as 1,500 m below the water table (John et al., 2010).
The gold-silver mineralization at El Peñón is hosted in near-horizontal to gently dipping Paleocene to Eocene basaltic to rhyolitic volcanic rocks. The El Peñón deposit comprises many individual tabular and steeply dipping zones that are amenable to mining by both underground and surface methods. Vein thickness range from decimetre-scale to more than 20 metres. The strike length of individual mineralized zones ranges from less than 1 km to 4 km and the downdip extent reaches up to 350 m.
The known deposit consists of 19 main vein zones and many subsidiary veins. They are grouped in vein systems that have previously supported, currently support, or are planned to support surface and underground mining operations.
The 19 principal mineralized veins are listed as follows:
Abundan ........

Mining Methods
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Bench & Fill
- Cut & Fill
- Longhole stoping
- Cemented backfill
Summary:
Ore from underground mines have recently been - and will continue to be - the main source of feed for the El Peñón mill. All underground mining operations are carried out by Yamana, while the open pit mining operations, representing only a very small proportion of the production over the LOM, are carried out by a contractor.
The El Peñón mine (El Peñón) is an underground and open-pit gold-silver mine located in the Atacama Region of Chile, approximately 165 km southeast of the city of Antofagasta.
The major assets and facilities associated with the mining operations at El Peñón are
listed as follows:
• Mine and mill infrastructure including office buildings, shops, laboratories, stockpiles, tailing storage facility, and equipment.
• Campsite/housing facilities
• Facilities providing basic infrastructure to the mine, such as access roads, electric power distribution systems connected to national power grid, water treatment and supply and sewage treatment.
• Underground infrastructure including portals, access ramps, ventilation raises, maintenance shops, and mobile fleet equipment.
• The open-pit infrastructure including haulage roads, ramps, and mobile fleet equipment.
Ore from underground mines have recently been—and will continue to be—the main source of feed for the El Peñón mill. Ore is sourced from one small active open pit mine (Chiquilla Chica) and from five of the seven major underground mining zones.
Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Production:
Commodity | Units | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Gold
|
koz
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  | 152 | 161 | 220 |
Silver
|
koz
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  |
Gold Equivalent
|
koz
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | | |
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.
^ Guidance / Forecast.
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Ore tonnes mined
| ......  | ......  | 1,010,081 t | 975,379 t | 1,018,007 t | 1,302,998 t |
Tonnes processed
| ......  | ......  | 1,290,239 t | 1,103,835 t | 1,041,200 t | 1,421,241 t |
Daily processing capacity
| ......  | ......  | 4,350 t | 4,350 t | | |
Daily processing rate
| ......  | ......  | 3,535 t | 3,024 t | | |
Annual processing capacity
| ......  | ......  | 1.59 Mt | 1.59 Mt | | |
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Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Mineral Reserves: Open Pit cut-off at $48.27/t, Underground cut-off at $129.15/t, Low grade stockpiles cut-off 0.86 g/t gold equivalent.
Mineral Resources: Underground cut-off at $96.86/t, Tailings and stockpiles reported at cut-offs of 0.50 g/t and 0.79 g/t gold equivalent respectively.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven
|
429 kt
|
Gold
|
6.62 g/t
|
91 koz
|
Proven
|
429 kt
|
Silver
|
224 g/t
|
3,090 koz
|
Probable
|
5,603 kt
|
Gold
|
4.67 g/t
|
841 koz
|
Probable
|
5,603 kt
|
Silver
|
146 g/t
|
26,293 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
6,032 kt
|
Gold
|
4.81 g/t
|
933 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
6,032 kt
|
Silver
|
151.5 g/t
|
29,383 koz
|
Measured
|
761 kt
|
Gold
|
5.28 g/t
|
129 koz
|
Measured
|
761 kt
|
Silver
|
150.9 g/t
|
3,691 koz
|
Indicated
|
6,670 kt
|
Gold
|
2.88 g/t
|
618 koz
|
Indicated
|
6,670 kt
|
Silver
|
100.6 g/t
|
21,568 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
7,430 kt
|
Gold
|
3.13 g/t
|
748 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
7,430 kt
|
Silver
|
105.7 g/t
|
25,259 koz
|
Inferred
|
18,882 kt
|
Gold
|
1.45 g/t
|
881 koz
|
Inferred
|
18,882 kt
|
Silver
|
47.7 g/t
|
28,984 koz
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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