SilverCrest Metals declares commercial production at Las Chispas

Declaration of commercial production is based on achieving a continuous two month period operating the processing plant at a minimum of 80% capacity for its name plate design of 1250 t per day (tpd) or 1000 tpd and showing a combined gold (Au) and silver (Ag) recovery or silver equivalent (AgEq) recovery of greater than 85%. The commissioning period was from 1 September 2022, through 31 October 2022, where the plant processed 62 146 t of ore for an average of 1019 tpd. For the same period, the metallurgical recovery averaged 96.7% gold and 96.8% silver, or 96.7% AgEq.

Pierre Beaudoin, COO, stated:

“We would like to congratulate our Las Chispas site team and contractors who have played an instrumental role in achieving this milestone on the planned schedule. We have been impressed by the early performance of the Las Chispas processing plant and continue to work to fine tune and complete the ramp up. Our underground mining team also continues to ramp up the operation with a focus on refinement of mining methods and implementation of grade control procedures.”

N. Eric Fier, CEO, commented:

“Moving Las Chispas from discovery to production in less than seven years is a monumental achievement. We are extremely proud of the dedication and execution from all involved. We now look forward to finishing our ramp-up to designed levels, generating revenue with subsequent free cash flow, and releasing an updated technical report in 1H23.”

Construction of the processing plant at Las Chispas was initiated in February 2021 and was completed on time and on budget in May 2022 with a target of declaring commercial production in 4Q22. Throughout commissioning, the processing plant performed in line or ahead of all feasibility study metrics while processing ore primarily sourced from stockpiles including recently mined underground ore. The underground mine is also progressing its ramp-up with a target to exit 2022 at a rate of 600 to 700 tpd, as previously disclosed. In the month of October 2022 the company exceeded the lower end of this mining tonnage target.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/08112022/silvercrest-metals-declares-commercial-production-at-las-chispas/