Saucito
One of our most important assets; contributing 23.4% to total silver production in 2021 and generated 21.0% of total adjusted rev.
| Ownership: |
100% Fresnillo plc |
| Location: |
Zacatecas 8km SW of the Fresnillo mine |
| Commodity: |
Silver, Gold |
| Operational since: |
2011 |
| Facilities: |
Underground mine and flotation plant |
| Workforce: |
1,015 employees, 2,363 contractors |
| Milling Capacity : |
7,800 tpd/2,600,000 tpy |
| Mine Life: |
7.3 (2020: 5.2) |
Quarterly Production
| |
4Q22 |
3Q22 |
% change |
4Q21 |
| Ore processed (t) |
508,455 |
556,199 |
(8.6) |
558,101 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Production |
|
|
|
|
| Silver (koz) |
3,026 |
3,171 |
(4.6) |
2,990 |
| Gold (oz) |
18,076 |
22,249 |
(18.8) |
17,719 |
| Lead (g/t) |
3,859 |
4,513 |
(14.5) |
4,272 |
| Zinc (g/t) |
5,868 |
6,882 |
(14.7) |
6,672 |
| Ore grades |
|
|
|
|
| Silver (g/t) |
208 |
199 |
4.5 |
186 |
| Gold (g/t) |
1.39 |
1.58 |
(12.0) |
1.26 |
| Lead % |
0.90 |
0.96 |
(6.3) |
0.90 |
| Zinc % |
1.56 |
1.64 |
(4.9) |
1.60 |
History
2009
Construction commenced
2011
Commercial production 1H11
Production
Silver
(koz)
12,439
(FY21)
% (19.9) Change
Gold
(oz)
88,440
(FY21)
% 4.2 Change
Lead
(t)
24,615
(FY21)
% (13.9) Change
Zinc
(t)
37,469
(FY21)
% (12.4) Change
Financial Highlights
Adjusted Revenue
(US$m, FY21)
594.5
% 0.2 Change
Segment Profit
(US$m, FY21)
321.3
% (1.2) Change
Captial Expenditure
(US$m, FY21)
101.2
% 37.9 Change
Exploration
(US$m, FY21)
18.7
% 34.5 Change
4Q22
-
Quarterly silver production decreased 4.6% vs. 3Q22 due to a decrease in ore throughput driven by one off factors including lower equipment availability, lower productivity as new employees completed training modules, and a longer than planned shutdown required by CFE related to the tie at Juanicipio. This was partially mitigated by the higher ore grade areas mined in 4Q22.
- Quarterly silver and gold production slightly increased 1.2% and 2.0% vs. 4Q21 respectively, due to higher ore grades from improvements to the short term mine planning process and the regained access to certain areas of the mine with higher ore grades, offset by a lower volume of ore processed for the factors mentioned above.
-
Full year silver production decreased 3.7% vs. FY21 driven by a lower volume of ore processed mainly due to changes to the short planning process and, to lesser extent, a lower productivity from internalised personnel, offset by the higher ore grade due to the factors explained above.
-
Quarterly and full year by-product gold production was down 18.8% and 16.9% vs. 3Q22 and FY21 respectively, driven by a lower ore grade and a decrease in ore throughput.
-
Full year 2023 silver ore grade is estimated to remain between 190-210 g/t, while the gold ore grade is estimated to be around 1.20-1.40 g/t.
