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United States

Silver Bell Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Copper
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe mine operates four open pits: North Silver Bell, El Tiro, West Oxide and East Oxide.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Grupo Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. 100 % Indirect
Silver Bell Mining LLC. (operator) 100 % Direct
The Mining Division of Grupo Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (GMéxico) is controlled by Americas Mining Corporation (AMC) which operates the United States subsidiary - Asarco LLC (Asarco).

Asarco LLC includes the Mission, Ray and Silver Bell Arizona mines.

The Silver Bell mine is operated by Silver Bell Mine, LLC ("SBM") of which AR Silver Bell, Inc. ("AR SB") maintains 100% of its capital stock of which ASARCO, LLC maintains 100% of its capital stock.

Deposit type

  • Porphyry

Summary:

(Translation from Spanish) The Silver Bell district in Arizona provides a good example of various electrical and electromagnetic methods applied to the same porphyry copper deposits. Lowest resistivities in the Silver Bell area corresponded with the quartz monzonite porphyry and with zones of sericitic alteration. Likewise, highest IP responses were associated with sericitic alteration. The low resistivities at Silver Bell are caused by the strongly fractured nature of the porphyry system, particularly in sericitic zones, and its interconnected sulfide veinlets. Sericitic zones are highly conductive because of intense fracturing, abundant pyrite mineralization, and sericitic alteration. The higher resistivities of the potassic zone, on the other hand, reflect silicification, disseminated sulfides (as opposed to sulfides deposited in veinlets), and overall less abundant sulfide and clay minerals. Propylitic zones are less fractured and have much lower total sulfides and, thus, higher resistivities. Resistivity weakly correlates with the leached cap and underlying zones of enrichment. Copper-porphyry mineralization is concentrated over several quartz monzonite porphyry domes and porphyry-cogenetic dykes of Laramide age (69-63 Ma) that were emplaced on a west-northwest-striking structure known as the Silver Bell fault zone. 11 kilometers and include the Oxide, West Oxide, El Tiro and North Silver Bell deposits. The mineable porphyry deposits contain the mineral chalcocite, disseminated and enriched in supergenes and with fracture control and associated copper oxide mineralization. Paleozoic carbonate rocks contain hydrothermal skarn deposits with chalcopyrite adjacent to mineralized porphyry deposits. High-grade Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu skarn ore was mined during large-scale underground operations in the pre- and post-mining years of the area. All known copper deposits lie within a long zone of disseminated pyrite up to 13 kilometers long and from less than 152 meters to over 2.4 kilometers wide.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits202320222021202020192018201720162015
Copper kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2019191919
All production numbers are expressed as cathode.

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018201720162015
Daily production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe63 t of copper cathode63 t of copper cathode63 t of copper cathode63 t of copper cathode63 t of copper cathode
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe19.1 kt of copper cathode
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe10,255 kt10,463 kt

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

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

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2023
...... Subscription required 2022
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Aerial view:

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