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Mexico
Mercedes Mine

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 Location:
20 km E from Cucurpe, Sonora, Mexico

  Regional Office:
Boulevard Jose María Morelos 307, Edificio G, Local 101, Col. Zona Militar Cuartel XV
Hermosillo
Sonora, Mexico
83190
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
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  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Mechanized Cut & Fill
  • Paste backfill
Processing
  • Gravity separation
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Counter current decantation (CCD)
  • Magnetic separation
  • Merrill–Crowe
  • Cyanide (reagent)
Mine Life2022
Latest NewsPremier Continues Successful Delineation of Higher Grades at Mercedes     November 24, 2020


Owners

Source: p. 78
CompanyInterestOwnership
Premier Gold Mines Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Minera Mercedes Minerales S. de R.L. de C.V 100 % Direct
The Mercedes Mine consists of approximately 69,285 hectares of mineral concessions under lease from the government of Mexico. The area is covered by 43 mineral concessions, all of which have been titled as mining concessions, according to Mexican mining law. All of the concessions are owned by Minera Mercedes Minerales S. de R.L. de C.V. ("MMM"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Premier.

Deposit Type

  • Epithermal
  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Vein / narrow vein


Summary:

Gold-silver mineralization on the Mercedes property is hosted within epithermal low sulphidation (adularia-sericite) veins, stockwork, and breccia zones.

A total of 16 principal low sulphidation epithermal vein/stockwork/breccia zones, have been identified on the Mercedes property. The currently producing veins have been divided into three sub-district areas:
• Mercedes Area (Mercedes-Barrancas)
• Klondike Area (Klondike-Rey de Oro)
• La Lupita Area (Lupita-Diluvio).

The majority of the veins are hosted within the andesite package, or locally at the fault contact between andesite and the underlying lithic tuff package. Only the Diluvio zone at Lupita and the Anita veins contain significant economic grade mineralization hosted completely in the lower tuff package.

The mineralized zones display a combination of fissure vein, stockwork, and breccia morphologies that change rapidly on strike and dip. The zones range in width from less than one metre to composite vein/stockwork/breccia zones up to 15 m wide. In the Diluvio zone, gold-silver bearing vein/stockwork zones locally attain thicknesses in excess of 100 m. Length of individual veins varies from 100 m to over two kilometres. Property-wide, Au-Ag bearing veins occur over a vertical range greater than 600 m (680 m to 1,300 m).

The Mercedes vein is the most important and continuous vein system identified on the property to date, with quartz-carbonate veining being traced almost continuously on strike for nearly 3.5 km. The Mercedes fault system consists of numerous anastomosing strands within a zone over 50 m wide. Emplaced within these faults in extensional open areas were a series of complex, multi-stage, anastomosing vein/breccia/stockwork zones one metre to 15 m wide. Vein mineralogy (multiple quartz and carbonate stages) and morphology change rapidly along strike and down dip. Mineralized green-grey sugary to chalcedonic quartz is often highly brecciated and cemented by 15% to 80% late stage grey calcite, rhodochrosite, and/or brownblack manganese-iron carbonates.

The Klondike vein zone trends N70ºW, dipping 65º to 80º southwest. It is approximately 800 m long, with a maximum vertical range of nearly 300 m and width ranging from 0.5 m to over 50 m.

The Klondike vein system is significantly different from that at Mercedes, in that it typically forms as a tectonic breccia zone rather than fissure fill vein. Within the breccia zone, there are highly variable lenses of brecciated white to green or grey quartz and abundant manganese carbonates and calcite. Fissure filling veins over 0.5 m wide are rare, while the overall zone of crackle brecciation and stockwork veining with silicification and strong manganese-iron oxides may be up to 50 m in width.

The Lupita vein zone outcrops on surface for 1,800 m following a contact between the overlying andesite package and underlying quartz-crystal lithic tuff package. In outcrop, the vein zone ranges from one metre to five metres thick. Multi- stage quartz-carbonate ± adularia veining locally extends continuously down dip in places more than 450 m along most of the west half of the surface outcrop.

Most importantly, at depths of 200 m to 300 m in the Diluvio zone, an extensive zone of multistage quartz-carbonate ± adularia vein breccias, stockwork, and hydrothermal breccia up to 150 m thick has been identified that is primarily hosted in the lower lithic tuff-volcaniclastic sequence. Based on preliminary geologic interpretation, it is proposed that the tuff/volcaniclastic sequence hosting the main portion of the Diluvio deposit is a large fault block that was displaced down the Lupita fault structure prior to andesite deposition. Diluvio therefore is the only mineral deposit in the district with the lower lithic tuff/volcaniclastic sequence as the primary host.


Mining Methods

  • Mechanized Cut & Fill
  • Paste backfill


Summary:

The Mercedes operation consists of five separate underground mines, all of which are in the production planning stage; plus an open pit mine that is in the planning stage. The five underground mine areas are:
1. the Mercedes Mine area composed of Corona de Oro (CDO), Casa Blanca, Brecha Hill, and Brecha Hill Norte;
2. the Barrancas-Lagunas mine area composed of the Lagunas, Barrancas Centro, and Barrancas Norte;
3. the Lupita mine area;
4. the Diluvio mine area;
5. the Rey de Oro mine area composed of both an underground operation and a very small open pit, which is under evaluation, and requires permitting. The permitting of this open pit is expected to be completed in mid-2018 according to MMM staff.

Production will come from the Mercedes, Barrancas- Lagunas, Lupita, Diluvio, and Rey de Oro. Access to all of the mines is by way of declines. The Rey de Oro area is contiguous with and immediately south of the mined-out Klondike deposit and will incorporate many of the methods and infrastructure from this older mine area.

The underground mines are all designed as ramp access mechanized mines. The anticipated ore production rate ranges from 1,700 tpd to 1,900 tpd (average 1,800 tpd) which is lower than the designed 2,200 tpd capacity. Ore from underground is hauled by 16 t trucks to stockpiles near the portals. Ore from the Barrancas-Lagunas, Lupita, Diluvio, and Rey de Oro mines is hauled to a common stockpile area near the jaw crusher.

The mine schedule is based on a seven days in/seven day out roster for 365 days per year. Crews work 12-hour shifts; planning is based upon the loss of three hours per shift for breaks, safety meetings, equipment checks, and minor maintenance. The total hours worked per year per person on this schedule is 2,190 hours. The available working time per shift equates to an average availability of 75% of the total hours.

Until 2018, there were two underground mining methods in use at Mercedes. Approximately 90% of the rock was mined by mechanized CAF stoping. Where the rock quality was appropriate, the ore was mined by long hole open stopes (LHOS) with cemented paste backfill. However, for the 2018 LOM production plan reviewed under the scope of this report, MMM staff reported that the mining method is wholly mechanized CAF stoping with no LHOS mining.

The CAF method is further subdivided into two types of mining, Full Face and Split Blasting. In areas where the full face (3.5 m width) does not meet the cut-off grade criteria, split blasting is considered. With split blasting, the round is taken with two blasts. First the mineralized zone is blasted and mucked, followed by a waste cut being blasted and mucked in order to meet the minimum mining width of 3.5 m. This allows narrow zones to be mined with reduced dilution. The mineralized cut for split blasting has a minimum width of two metres and any non-vein material included in the cut is assumed at zero grade. Split blasting is only assumed in select areas where there is a history of successfully implementing this technique.

The open pit mine at Rey de Oro is a small open pit, which extends up a slope. The pit contains approximately 114,000 tonnes of ore, which is a 25% decrease from the 2016 Mineral Reserve of 151,000 tonnes. Due to the low tonnage, the most reasonable mining scenario appears to be contract mining with technical supervision and grade control provided by Mercedes.


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Gravity separation
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Counter current decantation (CCD)
  • Magnetic separation
  • Merrill–Crowe
  • Cyanide (reagent)

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The processing facilities at Mercedes use conventional milling with Merrill-Crowe recovery of precious metals. The plant processes approximately 2,000 tpd. The plant consists of:
• Three stage crushing
• Single stage grinding and classification with cyclones
• Gravity concentration
• Agitated cyanide leaching
• Counter-current-decantation (CCD) thickener wash circuit
• Merrill-Crowe precious metal recovery circuit
• Cyanide detoxification of tailings
• Refinery.

Run of Mine (ROM) stockpiles ahead of the crusher are used to blend different grades of ore. ROM ore is transported to the crusher dump hopper. From the dump hopper the ore discharges onto a vibrating grizzly feeder that feeds the ore into the jaw crusher. The jaw crusher product discharges onto the crusher discharge belt feeder and onto a transfer conveyor that transports the crushed ore to the coarse ore bin.

A reclaim feeder transfers crushed ore from the coars ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter201920182017201620152014
Gold Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Gold Head Grade, g/t 2.913.343.934.273.965.09
Silver Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Silver Head Grade, g/t 26.235.337.644.543.355.9
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Production:

CommodityUnits201920182017201620152014
Gold oz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required82,53492,75584,137105,212
Silver oz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics201920182017201620152014
Tonnes milled  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required713,475 t681,833 t
Daily ore mining rate  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Annual production capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Annual production capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Daily processing capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required2,200 t
Ore tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required492,140 t648,568 t
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at December 31, 2018:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 193.2 kt Gold 9.01 g/t 56 koz
Proven 193.2 kt Silver 80.97 g/t 503 koz
Probable 3,190 kt Gold 3.31 g/t 339 koz
Probable 3,190 kt Silver 21.66 g/t 2,222 koz
Proven & Probable 3,383 kt Gold 3.63 g/t 395 koz
Proven & Probable 3,383 kt Silver 25.05 g/t 2,725 koz
Measured 253.39 kt Gold 3.33 g/t 27 koz
Measured 253.39 kt Silver 51.23 g/t 417 koz
Indicated 3,001 kt Gold 3.41 g/t 329 koz
Indicated 3,001 kt Silver 36.93 g/t 3,564 koz
Measured & Indicated 3,255 kt Gold 3.41 g/t 356 koz
Measured & Indicated 3,255 kt Silver 38.05 g/t 3,982 koz
Inferred 1,720 kt Gold 4.18 g/t 231 koz
Inferred 1,720 kt Silver 36.11 g/t 1,997 koz

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits201920182017201620152014
Cash costs (sold) Silver USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 9 / oz 10 / oz
Cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 706 / oz 690 / oz
Cash costs Silver USD 7.91 / oz 10.8 / oz
Cash costs Gold USD 887 / oz 681 / oz
Cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ......  Subscription required†  ......  Subscription required† 676 / oz† 656 / oz†
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Silver USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 11 / oz 11 / oz
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 854 / oz 811 / oz
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ......  Subscription required†  ......  Subscription required† 832 / oz† 785 / oz†
† Net of By-Product.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Financials:

Units20192018201720152014
Sustaining costs M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Capital expenditures M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 25   41.6  
Revenue M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 104.3   137.1  
Operating Income M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required -12.9   19.6  
Subscription required - Subscription is required


Heavy Mobile Equipment as of April 18, 2018:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantity
ANFO Loader 3
Crane ....................... Subscription required 50 t 1
Drill (long hole) 1
Jumbo ....................... Subscription required 2
Jumbo ....................... Subscription required 2
Jumbo ....................... Subscription required 2
Scissor Lift ....................... Subscription required 3
Scoop Tram ....................... Subscription required 3.5 cu. yd 3
Scoop Tram ....................... Subscription required 6 cu. yd 4
Scoop Tram ....................... Subscription required 3.5 cu. yd 2
Trans Mixer ....................... Subscription required 8 cu. m 5
Truck (haul) ....................... Subscription required 16 t 10
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 29, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 29, 2020
Subscription required - Subscription is required.


Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
Management Discussion & Analysis 2017
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2017
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2017
Press Release 2016
Press Release 2016
Technical Report 2016
Annual Report 2015
Technical Report 2014
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Premier Continues Successful Delineation of Higher Grades at Mercedes November 24, 2020
Premier Expands High-Grade at Diluvio West and Marianas June 3, 2020
Premier to Restart Safe Operations at Mercedes May 20, 2020
Premier Implements COVID-19 Response Plan at Mercedes Mine April 1, 2020
Premier Gold Mines Announces Overnight Marketed Financing February 11, 2020
Premier Expands High-Grade at Mercedes Mine. Drilling Intersects 8.9 m of 9.41 g/t Au & 34.15 g/t Ag at Lupita Extension November 21, 2019
Premier Gold: High-Grade Delineation Continues at Premier's Mercedes Mine October 2, 2019
Premier Expands High-Grade at San Martin and Lupita Extension August 13, 2019
Positive Exploration & Delineation Drilling at Premier Gold Mines' Mercedes Mine June 25, 2019
Premier Gold Mines Ltd.: Successful Delineation at Mercedes Mine May 14, 2019
Drilling Intersects High-grade at Marianas, Mercedes Mine May 7, 2019

Aerial view:

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