MEXICO – Vancouver's SilverCrest Mines has successfully commissioned the new 3,000-t/d Merrill Crowe mill at its Santa Elena gold-silver mine 150 km northeast of Hermosillo. The mine is transitioning from and open pit and heap leach operations to a conventional mineral processing plant and underground operation.
The mill operated for 30 continuous days to Aug. 1 at an average throughput of 2,524 t/d or 84% of nameplate capacity. During July the mine produced 1,516 oz of gold and 81,818 oz of silver, exceeding target production of 1,255 oz of gold and 74,325 oz of silver. The mill was commissioned using material from the leach pad. Blending with higher grade underground ore is expected in Q3 2014.
SilverCrest said mucking from the first underground stope is planned for this month using long hole stoping methods. At the end of July, 32,225 tonnes of development ore had been stockpiled. The average stockpile grade is 1.63 g/t Au and 118.91 g/t Ag.
For additional information and to view photos and videos, please visit the company's website at SilverCrestMines.com
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