Vancouver – UC Resources (UC-V), a Vancouver junior headed by financier Richard Hamelin, has reached the production threshold at its Las Yesca concession in the state of Coahuila, Mexico.
UC says it has commissioned a 200 tonne-per-day mill with a view to processing 225,000 tonnes of gold-silver tailings that remain from former mine workings which it hopes to revive using cash flow from the tailings material.
“This is obviously very exciting for the company,” said Will Elston, a consultant to UC, a TSX Venture Exchange-listed firm, which saw its stock price rise 6 cents to 55 cents on January 24, the day the production startup was announced.
To date, all of the components of the mill have been installed and are running well, the company said in a statement. Minor adjustments are necessary, and will continue to be made over the course of the next few days as UC attempts to achieve capacity.
The company said its next step will be to focus on the former Colorado mine, which is located on adjacent concessions and is thought to host an inferred mineral resource of about 12,000 tonnes grading 0.7 gram gold and 619 grams silver per tonne.
It is also eyeing lower grade gold and silver mineralization found immediately to the east of La Colorada, which the company believes may be amenable to bulk mining methods.
At La Yesca, UC is working in an old mining camp, which is known to contain at least five former producers. That includes four which are located on UC concessions.
In an interview, Mr. Elston did not say how much gold or silver the company hopes to produce from La Yesca on an annual basis. However, once the mill modifications are complete, UC hopes to achieve an 80% recovery rate for both gold and silver.
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