Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Post Pillar Cut & Fill
- Dry waste backfill
|
Processing |
|
Mine Life | 5 years (as of Jan 1, 2021) |
The Cosalá Operations consists of the San Rafael mine, the Los Braceros processing plant and tailings storage facility, the EC120 Project, and the past producing Nuestra Señora mine.
In February 2020, the Company announced an illegal blockade was put in place at the Cosalá Operations by a group of individuals including a small minority of the Company’s hourly workforce. As a result, the Cosalá Operations was put on care and maintenance. On July 6, 2021, the Company signed an agreement with the Mexican Ministries of Economy, Interior and Labour along with union representatives committing to a reopening of the Cosalá Operations. |
Latest News | Americas Silver Corporation Declares Commercial Production at the San Rafael Mine December 21, 2017 |
Source:
p. 34
The Cosalá Operations is 100% owned and operated by Americas’ wholly-owned subsidiaries, Platte River Gold Inc., Minera Platter River Gold S.A. de R.L. de C.V. and Minera Cosalá S.A. de C.V.
Summary:
Three principal zones of sulfide mineralization have been identified within a broad area of skarn alteration in the vicinity of San Rafael and nearby El Cajón. The San Rafael Main Zone consists of masses of sulfide grains that occur as replacements at an unconformable contact between what is believed to be Tertiary dacite tuff and Cretaceous limestone. Although it can be difficult to determine the host rock when total sulfide content is 90 to 100%, most of the massive sulfide replacement mineralization appears to be hosted in the dacite tuff. It contains silver, lead, and zinc mineralization with lessor gold and copper. The main minerals are pyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, and galena with minor marcasite, chalcopyrite, and magnetite. This mineralization in the San Rafael Main Zone is often associated with quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration that has been interpreted as more distal skarn alteration. It has also been suggested that the San Rafael Main Zone displays many similarities to volcanogenic massive-sulfide deposits, such as those found in the Guerrero Terrane in central Mexico.
Mineralization within the Main Zone at San Rafael is primarily massive, sulfide-replacement material, which can contain greater than 90% sulfides, dominantly pyrite and pyrrhotite. The sulfide body is discrete, tabular, and lies along the shallow-dipping dacite tuff-limestone contact where it has been referred to as “massive-sulfide mineralization” in previous reports. The zinc, lead, and silver, for the most part, lies within the body of sulfide replacement and consists of sphalerite and galena. The contacts of all elemental zones generally overlap within the massive sulfide, but mineral-shell boundaries and their internal grade distribution are not necessarily coincident.
The silver-gold “Upper Zone” lies within the Tertiary volcanic rocks about 50 to 100m above the Main Zone sulfide replacement of the San Rafael deposit. The Upper Zone is composed of irregular, subhorizontal layers sub-parallel to the Main Zone. Mineralization consists of sulfides, but sulfide content is much less than in the Main Zone. Weak base-metal mineralization occurs with the silver.
Mining Methods
- Post Pillar Cut & Fill
- Dry waste backfill
Summary:
Construction started at San Rafael in September 2016 and achieved commercial production in December 2017. The Mineral Reserves support a mine life of five years. The underground mine is accessed by a decline that portals at surface near the southern portion of the deposit where the surface infrastructure is located. A series of ramp systems from the main decline provides access to the various stoping areas of the mine.
The main decline has reached the bottom of the defined Mineral Reserves in the Main Zone and ramp development to access the Upper Zone has commenced. Due to the depth, shallow-dipping angle and variable thickness of the mineralization, the mining method used at San Rafael is post-pillar cut and fill. Stopes are accessed from a primary stope access driven at a -15% decline. After mining of each successive 5m high cut of ore, the stope is backfilled and the access “backslashed” to allow for mining of the next cut. This sequence is repeated up to five times until the stope access reaches an incline of +15%. Access to the next cut is then provided by a -15% stope access driven from a higher elevation. The LOM plan anticipates that the cut and fill stopes will be backfilled with unconsolidated development waste and waste generated from a waste quarry. Given the use of unconsolidated backfill, the mining sequence is typically from the bottom up.
Primary mine ventilation is provided via two vertical bored raises and the main decline. A main exhaust fan is located underground at the northern end of the deposit and fresh air is pulled through a central intake bored raise and the main decline. Fresh air is provided to the working development faces and stoping areas by use of secondary fans and ducting.
Due to the depth, variable dip angle (shallow to near vertical) and variable thickness of the mineralization, the mining method proposed at EC120 is a combination of post-pillar cut and fill and overhand cut and fill. This mining method is very selective and adaptable to changes in the mineralization in terms of shape, dip, thickness and lateral extent. The designed widths for the stoping areas at EC120 range from a minimum of 4m to a maximum of approximately 60m.
Stopes are accessed from a primary stope access driven at a -15% decline. After mining of each successive 5m high cut of ore, the stope is backfilled and the access backslashed to allow for mining of the next cut. This sequence is repeated up to five times until the stope access reaches an incline of +15%. Access to the next cut is then provided by a -15% stope access driven from a higher elevation. The nominal level spacing between main accesses is planned to be 25m.
The LOM plan assumes that the stopes will be backfilled with unconsolidated development waste and waste generated from a waste quarry. Given the use of unconsolidated backfill, the mining sequence is generally from the bottom up.
Ore will be mucked from the stopes to muck bays located on the main level access using load-haul-dump equipment (“LHD”). LHDs will load trucks equipped for both underground and surface use at the truck loadout area. Ore will be hauled directly from the underground to the processing plant to avoid re-handling.
On their return trip from the plant, trucks will be loaded with waste fill and travel directly or adjacent to the stopes requiring backfill. Final placement of the waste fill in stopes will be done using LHDs.
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
San Rafael ore has been the exclusive feed for the Los Braceros plant since November 2017. The Los Braceros process plant is a conventional polymetallic concentrator currently configured to produce zinc and lead concentrates. Throughput has recently been approximately 1,750 tonnes per operating day.
The San Rafael mine currently produces two concentrate products, a lead-silver concentrate and a zinc-silver concentrate.
Key processing equipment currently installed at the Los Braceros plant includes:
• Three-stage crushing plant; 0.76m x 1.07m jaw crusher, 1.67m standard cone crusher, 1.67m shorthead cone crusher;
• 800 tonne fine ore bin;
• Primary grinding mills: two each, 3.0m x 3.2m, 600kW;
• Concentrate regrind mill; one VXP500 vertical mill;
• Wemco 300ft3 rougher trough cells (lead and zinc);
• Wemco 10m3 rougher tank cells (zinc);
• Galigher Agitair 54C x 40 and Denver Sub-A cleaner cells (lead and zinc);
• Four ........

Recoveries & Grades:
Commodity | Parameter | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Silver
|
Recovery Rate, %
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 54.1 |
Silver
|
Head Grade, g/t
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 47 |
Zinc
|
Recovery Rate, %
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 78.1 |
Zinc
|
Head Grade, %
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 3.65 |
Lead
|
Recovery Rate, %
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 71.5 |
Lead
|
Head Grade, %
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 1.5 |
Reserves at June 30, 2021:
Mineral Reserves are estimated at a net smelter return ("NSR") cut-off value of US$50/tonne at San Rafael;
Mineral Resources are estimated at a NSR cut-off value of US$34/tonne at San Rafael.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven
|
845 kt
|
Silver
|
152 g/t
|
4,115 koz
|
Proven
|
845 kt
|
Zinc
|
3.21 %
|
59.8 M lbs
|
Proven
|
845 kt
|
Lead
|
1.4 %
|
26.1 M lbs
|
Probable
|
1,113 kt
|
Silver
|
109 g/t
|
3,918 koz
|
Probable
|
1,113 kt
|
Zinc
|
3.26 %
|
80.1 M lbs
|
Probable
|
1,113 kt
|
Lead
|
1.21 %
|
29.8 M lbs
|
Proven & Probable
|
1,958 kt
|
Silver
|
128 g/t
|
8,033 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
1,958 kt
|
Zinc
|
3.24 %
|
139.9 M lbs
|
Proven & Probable
|
1,958 kt
|
Lead
|
1.3 %
|
55.9 M lbs
|
Measured
|
1,317 kt
|
Silver
|
100 g/t
|
4,218 koz
|
Measured
|
1,317 kt
|
Zinc
|
2.37 %
|
68.9 M lbs
|
Measured
|
1,317 kt
|
Lead
|
1 %
|
29.1 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
1,909 kt
|
Silver
|
78 g/t
|
4,762 koz
|
Indicated
|
1,909 kt
|
Zinc
|
2.17 %
|
91.2 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
1,909 kt
|
Lead
|
0.97 %
|
40.7 M lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
3,226 kt
|
Silver
|
87 g/t
|
8,980 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
3,226 kt
|
Zinc
|
2.25 %
|
160.1 M lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
3,226 kt
|
Lead
|
0.98 %
|
69.8 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
348 kt
|
Silver
|
149 g/t
|
1,664 koz
|
Inferred
|
348 kt
|
Zinc
|
0.38 %
|
2.9 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
348 kt
|
Lead
|
2.47 %
|
18.9 M lbs
|
Commodity Production Costs:
| Commodity | Units | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Total cash costs
|
Silver
|
USD
|
...... †
|
...... †
|
...... †
|
-37.95 / oz†
|
All-in costs
|
Silver
|
USD
|
...... †
|
...... †
|
...... †
|
-19.66 / oz†
|
† Net of By-Product.
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