Tag Archives: El Cubo

Guanajuato Silver reduces costs, optimises workflow with Micromine software solution

Micromine says Guanajuato Silver Company has chosen Micromine as its primary geological and mine design software provider.

Micromine Origin and Micromine Beyond software will soon be implemented across four active mine sites – El Cubo, Valenciana, San Ignacio and Topia.

Guanajuato Silver chose Micromine Origin and Micromine Beyond due to the comprehensive functionality, which has enabled the company to replace multiple geological modelling, mapping and mine design applications with Micromine’s powerful all-in-one solution, Micromine said.

James Anderson, Chairman & CEO of Guanajuato Silver, said: “We believe both Micromine Origin and Micromine Beyond will enhance the performance of our mine exploration and engineering teams. By consolidating multiple software licences into one comprehensive package, we have been able to reduce our software costs while optimising workflows. We are also confident that Micromine’s strong support and commitment to customer success will help us achieve our goals as we continue on our journey to reactivate silver and gold mines in Guanajuato.”

Guido Perez, Micromine’s Regional Manager for the Americas region, said: “I regularly hear from geologists who are frustrated about the amount of time they are losing transferring data between multiple applications. It’s been a great experience for us to work with Guanajuato Silver to solve this problem for their team. By implementing a single software solution that covers multiple steps in the mining process, their team can stop worrying about managing software and start focusing on what matters.”

As one of the fastest-growing silver producers in Mexico, Guanajuato Silver also placed high importance on access to multi-language training and support for its rapidly growing team, the software provider said. Micromine has responded to this need quickly, already hosting in-person training sessions with over 50 users on-site in Guanajuato, Mexico.

The implementation of Micromine Origin and Micromine Beyond is just the first step in the ongoing relationship between Guanajuato Silver and Micromine, according to the latter. The organisations are currently collaborating on a program to support mining students in the Guanajuato region in developing the technical skills required for their future careers.

VanGold adds El Cubo mine and mill to El Pinguico precious metals mix

VanGold Mining has signed a binding agreement with Endeavour Silver to acquire the El Cubo mine and mill complex in Mexico, accelerating the company’s transition from development to production at its nearby El Pinguico silver-gold project.

With a rated capacity of 1,500 t/d, the El Cubo complex is made up of two operating underground silver-gold mines and a flotation plant. It employed over 350 people and engaged over 200 contractors until Endeavour suspended operations at the end of November 2019.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, Endeavour produced a total of 4.58 Moz of silver-equivalent at the complex at an all-in sustaining cost of $8.86/oz.

Currently, the El Cubo mine, plant and tailings facilities are on short term care and maintenance. VanGold intends to re-start the mill at around 750 t/d using mineralised material from its surface and underground stockpiles at the El Pinguico project as a significant portion of its estimated throughput for the first 36 months of operation. Endeavour Silver states it has measured and indicated resources of 236,000 oz of silver equivalent at El Cubo.

VanGold Chairman and CEO, James Anderson, said: “After working well with the Endeavour team during our 1,000 t bulk sample in June 2020, it became clear that El Cubo would be the perfect production fit for VanGold.

“The availability of mineralised material from El Pinguico’s surface stockpile, El Pinguico’s underground stockpile, El Pinguico’s remaining high-grade historical stopes and pillars, as well as El Cubo’s historical resources, gives us great flexibility in deciding where to source material for the mill, and how to sequence that throughput.”

El Pinguico is a high-grade gold and silver deposit that was mined from the early 1890s until 1913. VanGold has recently gained access to some of the historical underground shafts and has drilling campaigns planned to explore these areas.