Overview
Status | Temporary Suspension |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Bench & Fill
- Avoca
- Room-and-pillar
- Backfill
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 9 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) |
The Santander mine complex comprises a historically mined open pit and underground workings. Active underground operations (the Magistral mine) currently producing a nominal volume of 2,000 t/d that feeds the Santander process plant.
Cerro de Pasco Resources plans to develop the Santander Pipe orebody by linking the existing Magistral underground mine. CDPR anticipates processing of ore from the Pipe Project to start in Q1 2024.
On August 1, 2023, the Company announced that due to macro-economic pressures affecting zinc price, the Santander operations will go into a new operations plan that contemplates temporary curtailment (the “Curtailed Operations Plan”).
Santander operation will temporarily suspend production from the Magistral area until Q4 2023 and smoothly transition to a new mining contractor as outlined in the July 18th TermSheet signed with China Railway N° 10 Engineering Group CO. LTD., Sucursal del Perú (“CREC10”) |
Source:
p. 12,13,24
On December 3, 2021, Cerro de Pasco Resources Inc. completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding common shares of Cerro de Pasco Resources Subsidiaria del Perú S.A.C. (formerly Trevali Peru S.A.C.) including all their permits, licenses and concessions located at the Santander mining complex.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Carbonate replacement
- Skarn
- Intrusion related
Summary:
The characteristics and setting of the mineralization at the Santander Property are consistent with intrusion related, carbonate-hosted zinc-lead (copper, silver) deposits (Megaw, Balton and Falce 1996; Megaw 1998; Meinert, Dippert, and Nicolescu 2005), also known as CRD or hightemperature carbonate (HTC) deposit types.
The Santander mine is located within what is referred to as the Miocene metallogenic belt of central and northern Perú. It extends for at least 900 km along the Andean Western Cordillera and adjacent Altiplano and is characterized by numerous hydrothermal mineral deposits that formed about 20 Ma ago. Mineralization is interpreted to have occurred during a pre-lower Miocene Quechua I compressive event and spanned later Quechua II tectonism. Mineral deposits are predominantly hosted by shelf carbonates and other sedimentary rocks of Late Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous age, and by volcanic and intrusive rocks mainly of Neogene age. Base metal and precious metal mineralization was intimately associated in time and space with the eruption of calc-alkali volcanic rocks of intermediate composition, and the emplacement of mineralogically and geochemically similar, dykes and stocks.
The property is underlain by a package of Cretaceous carbonate and clastic sedimentary rocks that were tightly folded into a series of northwest-trending anticlines and synclines. The lower, predominantly clastic part of the section was thrust over the mainly carbonate-rich upper port ........

Mining Methods
- Bench & Fill
- Avoca
- Room-and-pillar
- Backfill
Summary:
Magistral is the only actual mining operation at Santander. It consists of three main mineralised bodies Magistral North, Magistral Central, and Magistral South, with three separate portals and ramp systems in place, which are strategically connected underground.
Bench and fill with a mechanized extraction methodology is the mining method applied at the Santander Mine. Current production capacity is about 2,000 tpd of zinc-lead-silver ore.
The mining method selected for underground mining is a modified Avoca method comprising overhand bench and fill which requires the removal of mineral in vertical slices, starting from the bottom undercut and advancing upwards. When mineralised widths are greater than 3 m, a combination of bench and fill and room-and-pillar methods has been selected as the most appropriate for the conditions encountered.
Mechanized mining uses a jumbo drill rig to drill blastholes, scooptrams for loading and trucks for ore haulage. Rock support is provided through rock bolts and shotcrete. The deposit width ranges from 13 m to 20 m for the three Magistral deposits. Mechanized mining is regarded as the only methodology suitable based on the geological structure and geotechnical studies to date. The mechanized mining cycle includes drilling (with a jumbo drill rig), blasting, ground support, loading (by scooptram) and haulage.
A brief description of the mining method is as follows:
1. Ore is extracted from the ........

Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Production:
Commodity | Product | Units | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
Zinc
|
Payable metal
|
M lbs
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | 57 | 53 |
Lead
|
Payable metal
|
M lbs
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  |
Silver
|
Payable metal
|
koz
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  |
Zinc Equivalent
|
Payable metal
|
M lbs
| ...... ^ | | | | | | ......  |
Zinc
|
Concentrate
|
kt
| | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | 65 | 61 |
Lead
|
Concentrate
|
kt
| | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  |
^ Guidance / Forecast.
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
Daily milling capacity
| ......  | ......  | 2,000 t | 2,000 t | 2,000 t | 2,000 t |
Ore tonnes mined
| ......  | ......  | 718,286 t | 775,088 t | 750,970 t | 681,785 t |
Tonnes milled
| ......  | ......  | 724,341 t | 875,680 t | 803,265 t | 839,546 t |
Daily mining capacity
| ......  | ......  | | | | |
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Reserves at September 9, 2022:
The Magistral Underground Mine Mineral Resource estimate is reported based on a net smelter return cut-off grade of US$ 40/tonne with metal prices of: US$ 3,000/tonne for Zn, US$ 2,200/tonne for Pb, and US$ 25/Oz for Ag.
The Santander Pipe Underground Deposit Mineral Resource estimate is reported based on net smelter return cut-off grade of US$ 40/tonne with metal prices of US$ 3,000/tonne for Zn, US$ 2,200/tonne for Pb, US$ 9,300/tonne for Cu, and US$ 25/Oz for Ag.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade |
Measured & Indicated
|
5,679 kt
|
Zinc
|
5.7 %
|
Measured & Indicated
|
5,679 kt
|
Lead
|
0.1 %
|
Measured & Indicated
|
5,679 kt
|
Silver
|
15.7 g/t
|
Measured & Indicated
|
5,679 kt
|
Copper
|
0.12 %
|
Inferred
|
3,027 kt
|
Zinc
|
4.95 %
|
Inferred
|
3,027 kt
|
Lead
|
0.057 %
|
Inferred
|
3,027 kt
|
Silver
|
11.3 g/t
|
Inferred
|
3,027 kt
|
Copper
|
0.11 %
|
Pipelines and Water Supply
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Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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