Ciénega (incl. San Ramón satellite)
Long been classified as a gold mine, but silver revenues have risen markedly in recent years reflecting the mine’s rich silver resources
| Ownership: |
100% Fresnillo plc |
| Location: |
Durango |
| Commodity: |
Gold, Silver |
| Operational since: |
1992 |
| Facilities: |
Underground mine, flotation and leaching plant |
| Workforce: |
469 employees, 340 contractors |
| Milling Capacity: |
4,000 tpd / 1,340,000 tpy |
| Average ore grade in reserves: |
2.00 Gold g/t, Silver 162 g/t |
| Total Reserves: |
820 oz Gold, 66.3 moz Silver |
| Mine Life: |
10.0 years |
Quarterly Production
| |
1Q17 |
1Q16 |
% change |
4Q16 |
| Ore processed (t) |
313,920 |
323,719 |
-3.0 |
327,416 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Production |
|
|
|
|
| Gold (oz) |
17,453 |
17,245 |
1.2 |
17,583 |
| Silver (koz) |
1,328 |
1,169 |
13.6 |
1,298 |
| Lead (t) |
1,536 |
1,543 |
-0.5 |
1,435 |
| Zinc (t) |
1,960 |
1,635 |
19.9 |
1,892 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Ore grades |
|
|
|
|
| Gold (g/t) |
1.89 |
1.72 |
10.2 |
1.74 |
| Silver (g/t) |
160 |
128 |
24.8
|
143 |
| Lead % |
0.78 |
0.67 |
15.5 |
0.66 |
| Zinc % |
1.07 |
0.91 |
17.4 |
0.99 |
History
1992
Construction commenced
1995
First full year of production, with 300,000 tpy capacity
Production
Gold
(oz)
72,851
(FY16)
% (15.0) Change
Silver
(koz)
5,131
(FY16)
% 6.3 Change
Lead
(t)
5,883
(FY16)
% 8.4 Change
Zinc
(t)
7,450
(FY16)
% 24.8 Change
Financial Highlights
Adjusted Revenue
(US$m, FY16)
185.0
% 9.1 Change
Segment Profit
(US$m, FY16)
100.1
% 40.8 Change
Captial Expenditure
(US$m, FY16)
32.7
% 32.9 Change
Exploration
(US$m, FY16)
20.0
% (2.4) Change
Perfomance Highlights:
- Full year and quarterly gold production decreased as a result of: i) an expected lower ore grade due to the depletion of higher grade ore veins and increased dilution from narrower veins at the East and West areas, and ii) lower ore processed resulting from the extraction of harder mineral from the Rosario, Las Casas and Carmen areas
- Quarterly gold production decreased 4.3% vs. 3Q16 due to a lower ore grade resulting mainly from temporary development delays limiting access to richer stopes at the Taspana vein; partly offset by a higher volume of ore processed
- Annual silver production increased as a result of higher ore grades from the Rosario and Las Casas areas; partly offset by lower ore processed
- Quarterly silver production increased vs. 4Q15 as a result of a higher ore grade
- Full year by-product lead production increased vs. 2015 as a result of the higher ore grade which compensated for the lower ore processed, however, quarterly by-product lead production decreased vs. 4Q15 mainly due to the lower recovery rate
- Quarterly by-product lead production increased vs. 3Q16 due to an increase in ore processed
- Annual and quarterly by-product zinc production increased as a result of higher ore grades and recovery rates which compensated for the lower volume of ore processed
Objectives: 2017
- Continue development of Rosario & Las Casas
- Ciénega expansion evaluation progressing
