Golden Minerals Company (NYSEAMERICAN:AUMN) (TSX:AUMN) (FRA:7GB) announced over the weekend that it has begun an exploration drilling program at its operating Rodeo gold mine in Durango State in Mexico, aimed at expanding the resource.
In a statement, the Colorado-based company said the program will encompass about 2,000 meters (m) of exploration drilling at selected near-surface targets located immediately adjacent to the current pit.
“The program has the potential to extend the life of the Rodeo mine well beyond the currently estimated life of around 2.5 years,” said the company. Results should begin to be available within the next several months and any newly added resources will be incorporated into the company’s production plans, it added.
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“Recent mining activities at the Rodeo open pit gold mine have revealed very interesting expansion targets that, in my opinion, could potentially extend Rodeo’s life by a meaningful amount,” Golden Minerals CEO Warren Rehn said in a statement.
“Based on our previous drilling, we thought the higher-grade mineralization was closed off to the north by two drill holes; however, it is now apparent that those drill holes likely missed the main mineralized zone. Our more complete understanding of the geology of the deposit based on the new open pit exposures lead us directly to the current drill targets.”
The company began mining at Rodeo in late December 2020 and announced it had begun processing at a rate of around 200 tonnes per day (tpd) in mid-January 2021, roughly two weeks ahead of schedule and on budget.
Rodeo’s first gold pour took place at the end of January 2021. At that time, Golden announced it would be ramping up processing to the full run rate of around 450 tpd, which was anticipated to occur by the end of the first quarter 2021 when installation of a regrind ball mill was complete and brought online. These activities remain on track and are anticipated to happen by March 31 this year.
The company has continued to pour gold on a weekly basis, if not more frequently, as planned and has exported and sold its first batch of gold-silver bars. It is on track to complete its forecasted annual production of between 12,000 and 14,000 ounces of gold in 2021.
Golden Minerals is primarily focused on advancing its Rodeo and Velardeña properties in Mexico and, through partner-funded exploration, its El Quevar silver property in Argentina, as well as acquiring and advancing mining properties in Mexico, Argentina, and Nevada.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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