Overview

Mine Type	Underground
Status	Active
Commodities	Zinc Lead Silver
Mining Method	Cut & Fill Longhole stoping
Backfill type	...
Production Start	...
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	The main infrastructure El Mochito Mine consists of a shaft-accessed underground El Mochito mine and a processing plant that produces separate zinc and lead concentrates. Silver, a by-product of the lead and zinc concentrate is sold as percent silver concentrate. The El Mochito mine has benefited from significant reinvestment including new mining equipment, new flotation cells and a new shaft (under construction). El Mochito mine sold to Kirungu Corporation on April 27, 2020, a private equity precious and base metals producer. No production data has been available since then.

Deposit type

• Skarn

Summary:

Zinc-lead-silver mineralization of economic interest at El Mochito occurs in association with calc-silicate bearing skarn intervals hosted by limestone and calcareous shale of the Upper and Lower Atima Formation, in calcareous units of the Atima Formation’s main subunit, the Mochito Shale, in calcareous siltstone and shale of the Cantarannas Formation and in quartz rich sandstones and siltstones of the siliciclastic-dominated Todos Santos Formation, which underlies the Cantarannas Formation. The stratigraphic section within which economic mineralization occurs at El Mochito slightly exceeds 1,250 m in true thickness.

Mineralization consisting of sphalerite, galena, argentite, tetrahedrite, acanthite, pyrrhotite and magnetite is associated with garnet and pyroxene skarn zones that are both structurally and stratigraphically controlled. The distribution of skarn directly reflects the geometry of the complex graben-related fault systems that channeled hot hydrothermal fluids through graben fill sequences to sites where they selectively reacted with calcareous wall rock to create siliceous, garnet and pyroxene dominated skarn. Introduction of zinc-lead-silver mineralization on existing skarn zones reflects continued capacity of the graben’s fault systems to conduct the large volumes of hydrothermal fluid necessary to create this district’s high metal endowment.

Two main styles of zinc-lead-silver mineralization are present at El Mochito, these being mantos and chimneys, both of which show genetic association with hydrothermal fluidcontrolling fault systems. The largest mantos occur as stratabound replacement zones within the Lower Atima Formation, near its lower contact with the calcareous Cantarannas Formation. Manto style mineralization is also encountered in the central portion of the Atima Formation, along the upper and lower contacts of the Mochito Shale unit, typically adjacent to large chimney structures, and also within quartz rich clastic sediments of the Todos Santos Formation.

Chimney-style mineralization occurs as pipe-like accumulations of sulphides and associated skarn assemblages that are discordant to stratigraphy, often at high angles, and are spatially controlled by discrete zones of structural ground preparation which typically coincide with fault intersection zones or with dilational zones related to orientation changes or transfer zones along strike slip or dip slip fault systems. Chimneys at El Mochito are frequently rooted in zones of well-developed manto mineralization at the base of the Atima Formation and extend upward through that formation for substantial vertical intervals, with some passing through the Mochito Shale and onward to near surface elevations.

Manto and chimney deposits differ in their metal grade characteristics, with higher zinc lead and silver values and massive to submassive sulphide zones being more commonly seen in chimneys.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

Commodity	Product	Units	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Silver	Payable metal	koz	....	....	981	701	489
Zinc	Payable metal	M lbs			55	53	38
Zinc	Metal in concentrate	M lbs			64	63	45	32	51
Lead	Payable metal	M lbs			26	21	14
Lead	Metal in concentrate	M lbs			27	22	15	8.8	22
Silver	Metal in concentrate	koz			1,401	1,002	699	567	1,105
Zinc Equivalent	Payable metal	M lbs			90	78	56
Zinc Equivalent	Metal in concentrate	M lbs			106	91	66
Zinc	Concentrate	kt						27	45
Lead	Concentrate	kt						6	15

Operational metrics

Metrics	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Ore tonnes mined	....	....	....	794,690 t	758,067 t	657,287 t
Daily milling capacity	....	....	....	2,300 t	2,300 t	2,300 t	2,300 t	2,300 t
Tonnes milled	....	....	....	775,559 t	756,034 t	656,291 t	470 kt	756 kt
Daily milling rate	....	....	....		2,154 t	1,889 t	1,409 t
Annual milling capacity	....	....	....				840 kt

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................		Nov 8, 2024
.......................	.......................		Nov 8, 2024
.......................	.......................		Nov 8, 2024

Employees	Contractors	Total Workforce	Year
		......	2019
......	......	......	2018