Overview
Stage | Restarting |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Cut & Fill
- Unconsolidated rockfill
|
Mine Life | 6.5 years (as of Jan 1, 2023) |
The Bethania Silver Project is comprised of the Bethania mine (historically known as Mina Santa Elena) that operated from 2010 to 2016, the Carmelitas, Tres Banderas and Chinita concessions and collectively covers approximately 4,981 hectares. The Company’s goal for the Bethania Silver Project is to build a new processing plant as contemplated in the Amended and Restated Preliminary Economic Assessment.
The PEA envisages an underground mine feeding a processing plant that would process mineralized material and also incorporates the potential to tollmill mineralized material before the construction and commissioning of a new processing plant at site.
As of January 8, 2024, Kuya Silver has commenced an underground development and reconditioning program as an initial step to resume operations at the Bethania Silver Mine. |
Source:
p. 82
On 16 December 2020, Kuya Silver Corporation (from now on Kuya) announced it had acquired 100% of the Bethania Silver Project from S & L Andes Export SAC (“S&L”) and renamed S&L to Minera Toro del Plata S.A.C. (wholly owned Peruvian subsidiary of Kuya). Aerecura Materiales S.A.C., a current registered holder of some of the adjacent concessions that make up the Bethania Silver Project, was renamed Kuya Silver S.A.C. (a wholly owned Peruvian subsidiary of Kuya).
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Volcanic hosted
- Epithermal
- Vein / narrow vein
Summary:
The Bethania silver deposit is a polymetallic (Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu-Au) hydrothermal deposit whose mineralogy, mineralization, textures, and associated alteration phases are consistent with the intermediate sulphidation (IS) epithermal geological model for volcanic-hosted precious metal deposits.
The Santa Elena mining concession covers Tertiary volcanic rocks that include andesite, dacite, and tuff. Outcrop exposure is best in areas of higher elevation (high cliffs, hill tops etc.) and along road or stream cuts, with much of the region covered by vegetation and Quaternary deposits (overburden).
All of the mineralized veins discovered to date are hosted by altered andesite and/or dacite with some anomalous mineralization hosted by siliceous bodies of stockwork quartz-breccia. The attention of past on-vein exploitation focused on the east-northeast trending veins but there are numerous north-northwest trending veins that have seen little if any exploration and testing.
The total lengths of the vein systems are not clear for all the veins and there is evidence that the northeast-trending veins (e.g., Española and Carolina) could extend several hundred meters along strike. In addition, many of the veins continue at depth as evidenced from underground mine development and the recently completed Phase diamond drilling program.
Ausenco (2017), noted that geochemical results indicate the potential for an igneous body of the copper porphyry type ex ........
Mining Methods
- Cut & Fill
- Unconsolidated rockfill
Summary:
The UBC methodology was used to select the most suitable mining method for the Santa Elena mine, considering the shape of mineralization, review of geotechnical information (RMR and characteristics of the footwall and hanging wall), distribution of grades and the general characteristics of the mine (for example, width, dip and depth).
According to the results obtained in qualitative analysis, the applicable methods for the deposit are Conventional Cut and Fill (OCF) and Shrinkage Stoping. In this study, a quantitative analysis was carried out for the selection of the preferred mining method for the mineral deposit, for which an economic comparison (gross margin) was carried out for each mining method. This analysis was carried out by area (12 mayo, Española y Victoria) and veins. The method with better margins defined the preferred mining method for the Santa Elena mine.
The Conventional Cut and Fill method is the one that obtains the best economic results compared to Shrinkage stoping, achieving a 54% higher economic margin.
Mining Plus determined based on the qualitative and quantitative evaluation that the mining method applicable to the Santa Elena mine is the conventional Cut and Fill method.
A mining recovery of 95% was assumed for the Conventional Cut and Fill method and the operational dilution (% variable dilution) was applied, where a minimum width of 0.6 m is established, and the dilution value is variable depending on th ........
Source:
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Source:
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Reserves at October 21, 2021:
The regularised block was used in the final resource calculation and the resource statement, applying a cut-off value of 100 ppm silver equivalent (AgEq).
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Indicated
|
404,000 t
|
Silver
|
332 g/t
|
4,312,312 oz
|
Indicated
|
404,000 t
|
Zinc
|
1.95 %
|
|
Indicated
|
404,000 t
|
Gold
|
0.26 g/t
|
|
Indicated
|
404,000 t
|
Lead
|
2.67 %
|
|
Indicated
|
404,000 t
|
Copper
|
0.16 %
|
|
Indicated
|
404,000 t
|
Silver Equivalent
|
469 g/t
|
6,090,288 oz
|
Inferred
|
700,000 t
|
Silver
|
249 g/t
|
5,603,871 oz
|
Inferred
|
700,000 t
|
Zinc
|
1.58 %
|
|
Inferred
|
700,000 t
|
Gold
|
1.58 g/t
|
|
Inferred
|
700,000 t
|
Lead
|
2.51 %
|
|
Inferred
|
700,000 t
|
Copper
|
0.12 %
|
|
Inferred
|
700,000 t
|
Silver Equivalent
|
369 g/t
|
8,303,361 oz
|
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