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Mexico

Del Toro Mine

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusCare and Maintenance
Commodities
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Lead
  • Zinc
Mining Method
  • Cut & Fill
  • Longhole stoping
  • Shrinkage stoping
  • Drift & Fill
Backfill type ... Lock
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SnapshotThe Del Toro mine includes three main independent underground mining areas which are accessed via surface portals, the San Juan mine, the Dolores mine and the Perseverancia mine.

Operations at the Del Toro mine has been placed on care and maintenance since January 2020.

Project generation exploration continues, with an emphasis on brownfield and greenfield targets within the property mineral concessions.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
First Majestic Silver Corp. 100 % Indirect
The Del Toro Silver Mine is owned by the First Majestic Silver's wholly owned indirect subsidiary, First Majestic Del Toro S.A. de C.V.

Deposit type

  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Manto
  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Intrusion related
  • Hydrothermal

Summary:

Mineral deposits at Del Toro occur in veins, chimneys, breccias and mantos. The deposits are associated with a quartz monzonite–granodiorite intrusion and are hosted by Cretaceous limestone and shale that has been altered to marble, hornfels, skarnoid and skarn.

Because of their spatial relation with intrusions and metamorphic/motasomatic rocks, the deposits are proposed to be of the intrusion-related hydrothermal type. Potassic alteration observed at depth in the San Juan mine suggests high-temperature alteration at depth. Although fluid inclusion- microthermometry studies have not been carried out for the Del Toro deposits, the association intrusions and skarn suggests they could be of the mesothermal to epithermal type. The occurrence of distal quartz– calcite veins containing fluorite in the Dolores mine is suggestive of an epithermal environment.

Mineralization to the south at San Nicolas and San Juan seems to be more mesothermal whereas the mineralization to the north in Dolores seems to be epithermal. No attempt was made to fit Del Toro deposits to the settings of the well-studied porphyries or epithermal deposits described by Sillitoe or Hedenquist elsewhere, since the geologic features observed suggest that Del Toro sits in between these end-member environments.

Mineral deposits at Del Toro occur in veins, chimneys, breccias and mantos. It is interpreted that some of the mineralization is skarn-related mesothermal in style, similar to that of San Martin Sombrerete. Some epithermal features, such as quartz–calcite veins containing fluorite, occur at Dolores and the Navidad claims north of Dolores. Veins at Del Toro can be of two types, open space filling or fault vein.

The open space filling type can be massive sulphide veins containing galena, sphalerite and pyrite, quartz– carbonate veins containing pyrite, sphalerite and galena, and massive carbonate veins consisting of calcite, siderite and manganiferous calcite.

The second type of vein, fault-vein, consists of breccia or gouge with disseminated sulphides and oxides. Open space filling veins can transition into fault veins, and vice versa, along a structure. Most veins were likely open or partially open faults that were flooded with hydrothermal fluids carrying metals, and some of these were reactivated by later faulting events. Good examples of massive open space filling veins that transition into fault veins are Lupita, Santa Teresa and San Nicolas. Cuerpo 1 and Cuerpo 2 in the San Juan mine are good examples of vein-faults. Veins typically range in width from a few centimetres to up to five metres.

Breccia pipes and chimneys also occur in the district. Sulphide-rich (galena and sphalerite) chimneys were mined in the Perseverancia mine (Perseverancia and San Nicolas chimneys) where they occur at the intersection of northwest trending structures and north-trending structures. Cuerpo 3 is a sub-vertical pipe like structure located on the eastern footwall of the Cuerpo 1 vein-fault system. It extends from 2,200 masl to at least 1,955 masl, varies in width from 40 to 80 m and forms where the Cuerpo 1 and Cuerpo 2 bodies intersect with one another. It contains sulphide and oxide mineralization in cross-cutting structures and disseminations.

Manto-type structures are more common in the Cotorras and Magistral areas, although some manto development has also been observed in the San Juan mine associated with the Lupita vein. The mantos may vary in thickness from 20 cm at Las Cotorras to 1.5 m at Magistral.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnits20192018201720162015
Silver Metal in concentrate oz 303,234785,1541,124,9921,500,9512,261,633
Lead Metal in concentrate lbs 3,276,0189,584,83617,978,05822,537,58329,707,660
Silver Equivalent Metal in concentrate oz 493,6361,432,3122,237,7302,649,3263,824,241
Gold Metal in concentrate oz 337344413
Zinc Metal in concentrate lbs

Operational metrics

Metrics20192018201720162015
Daily milling rate 1,000 t1,000 t
Daily milling capacity 2,000 t2,000 t2,000 t2,000 t2,000 t
Ore tonnes mined 106,083 t267,170 t
Waste 76,665 t
Tonnes milled 106,083 t267,170 t278,204 t337,020 t555,564 t

Production Costs

CommodityUnits201920182017
Credits (by-product) Silver USD -16.33 / oz  
Cash costs Silver USD 16.2 / oz  
Total cash costs Silver USD 38.7 / oz   28.5 / oz   21.8 / oz  
Total cash costs Silver USD 28.3 / oz **   17.1 / oz **   5.49 / oz **  
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Silver USD 37.8 / oz **   27.5 / oz **   11.9 / oz **  
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency2019201820172016
UG mining costs ($/t milled) USD 22.6  23  
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Financials

Units201920182017
Sustaining costs M USD 2.3   7.2   6.4  
Capital expenditures M USD 4.9   11.6   8.6  
Revenue M USD 7.6   17.9   30.1  
Operating Income M USD -5.7   -9.9   -2.1  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 29, 2024

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2019

Aerial view:

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