Fresnillo PLC has confirmed that final testing of the downstream power distribution and control systems at the Juanicipio silver-gold project in Mexico is now complete. This concludes the additional testing requested by the state-owned power company, CFE (Comision Federal de Electricidad) to verify compatibility between new and updated substation equipment installed by Fresnillo on behalf of the JV partners Fresnillo (56%) and MAG Silver (44%), as part of the Juanicipio Project and existing older CFE infrastructure.

The company states: “As such, the entire system has now been energised, and commissioning of the project has formally begun. Ramp up will now be conducted at pace, with the objective of reaching full nameplate capacity in the second quarter of 2023. Once commissioning is concluded, ore will be processed at the Juanicipio plant and could also continue to be processed at our nearby Saucito and Fresnillo operations if required.”

The Juanicipio mine is Fresnillo’s next major growth project. From 2023 onwards, Juanicipio will be an increasingly major influence in its operations, with total average annual silver and gold production of 11.7 Moz and 43,500 oz respectively over the life of mine. Fresnillo thanked the CFE and Centro Nacional de Control de Energia (CENACE) “for their cooperation, support and engagement throughout this process.”