Altaley Mining Corporation (TSX-V:ATLY) founder CEO Ralph Shearing said the second quarter was challenging, but with its flagship Campo Morado mine now excavating higher grade ore, the rest of the year looked promising.
Campo Morado is an operating polymetallic base metal mine currently producing an average of 2,400 tons per day. It is ranked as Mexico’s sixth largest zinc producer.
"2Q 2022 financial results reflect a challenging quarter for the company. Campo Morado operations saw a decrease in profitability over H1 2022 compared to H2 2021 as a result of the El Largo zone nearing depletion delivering lower grade ore to the mill which negatively affected both recoveries and concentrate grades,” said Shearing in a statement.
READ: Altaley Mining updates on pre-production mill commissioning at Tahuehueto gold mine
“In addition, the mine installed a copper recovery flotation circuit to begin producing copper concentrate, foregoing lead concentrate production to take advantage of the significantly higher price of copper over lead.”
Shearing said these factors along with downtime due to equipment failure and inflationary cost increases resulted in decreased profits for Campo Morado. However, he emphasized that he was confident about Campo Morado’s performance going forward.
“Management is confident that these difficulties are behind us with Campo Morado back on track mining higher grade ore from the G9/Southwest allowing the project to achieve significantly better recoveries and concentrate grades during August, resulting in increased concentrate grades and increased production tonnages,” added Shearing.
For the period ended June 30, 2022, the Vancouver-based mining company reported $13.9 million in revenue from the sale of 8,194 tons of zinc concentrate with an average of 44.8% zinc and 406 grams per ton (g/t) silver at an average selling price of $3,452 per ton of zinc and $19.90 per ounce (oz) of silver.
The company also sold 1,512 tons of copper concentrate with an average of 13.7% copper, 590 g/t silver, and 6.2 g/t gold at an average selling price of $9,161 per ton of copper, $21.70 per ounce of silver, and $1,848 per ounce of gold.
In addition, 1,012 tons of lead concentrate were sold with an average of 15.5% lead, 537 g/t silver and 3.2 g/t gold at an average selling price per ton of lead of $2,114.
Altaley said the net revenue of $13.9 million included treatment charges, $3.51 million in penalties and freight and sales costs of $1.78 million.
Campo Morado mine
Altaley said Campo Morado produced 8,603 tons of zinc concentrate grading an average of 45% zinc, 1.73 grams per ton (g/t) gold, 404 g/t silver and sold 8,194 tons generating $9.02 million in revenue from zinc concentrate.
In May this year, the mine began producing copper concentrate, of which 1,870 tons was produced during the quarter grading an average of 14% copper, 6.3 g/t gold, 650 g/t silver and around 1,516 tons got sold generating 2.1 million in revenue from copper concentrate.
The company reported that during the quarter, 189,194 tons of mineralized material got processed at a cash cost per pound (lbs) of $1.13.
Tahuehueto Mining project
During the second quarter, Tahuehueto produced 256 tons of bulk concentrate grading an average of 72% zinc, 71% copper, 74% lead, 1.73 g/t gold, 404 g/t silver and sold 64.3 tons generating $77,000 in revenue from bulk concentrate.
Installation of the second 500 ton per day (tpd) ball mill at Altaley's Tahuehueto project in Mexico’s Durango State is scheduled over the next several months and commissioning this mill is expected during Q4 2022 and ramp up production towards the mine's designed capacity of 1,000 tpd near the end of 2022.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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