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925 West Georgia St.
Suite 1805 Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6C 3L2 Phone: 604.688.3033 Toll Free: 1.866.529.2807
TSX: FR
Pink Sheets: FRMSF Frankfurt: Symbol - FMV WKN - A0LHKJ | | |
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» La Parrilla Silver Mine » San Martin Silver Mine » La Encantada Silver Mine » Del Toro Silver Mine » Real de Catorce Silver Project    | | | La Encantada Silver Mine
The La Encantada Silver Mine is 100% owned and is located in the "Sierra Madre Oriental" physiographic province of México. The mine includes a newly completed 3500 tpd plant, all the infrastructures; airstrip, housing, offices, ancillary buildings, laboratory, restaurant, general store, recreation facility and a land package of approximately 4000 hectares. The mine is in the state of Coahuila and the access is through the road from Muzquiz to Boquillas del Cármen, Coah., through a 165 kilometres paved road and a branch of 45 kilometres dirt road, taking approximately 2.5 hours to travel. MINE AND PLANT OPERATION
In recent years, very little reinvestment was made to open new areas within the mine to take advantage of the high grade ore withing the mine and fill the capacity of the mill. Construction of the new 3500 tpd cyanide mill commenced in July 2008 and was completed in November 2009. The expansion is anticipated to add over 2.0 million ounces to the Company's production, bring the production to over 4.0 million ounces in the form of dore bars at the La Encantada in 2010. GEOLOGY La Encantada mining district is represented by a skarn type deposit with values of Ag and Pb in ore bodies of different morphology; Historically, the strategy was to obtain greater grades of silver while maintaining low tonnage. This strategy is changing with the construction of the new 3500 tpd mill. Current mining is taking place mainly in the San Javier area, of "mantos" 314 and the Ojitos structure, between levels 635 to 680. In the upper section by veins and "mantos" related to bodies mineralized at depth. The mining activity in this district began in a low scale in 1950 up to 1969 and at the beginning of the 1970's until the year 2003 with Grupo Peñoles/Lacana Corp. exploiting the ore-bodies of; La Prieta, 660, Ojuelas, Escondida, San Javier Breccia, Milagros and some of the irregular veins in the San Javier zone. It is estimated that around 6.0 million tons with a grade of 418 g/ton silver and 9.83% lead had been extracted (P. Trejo and E. Chico). In the mid section the existence of chimney type bodies, "mantos" and irregular bodies with partial replacement and open space filled.
In the lower part metasomatic ore bodies in contact with horfels and skarn development, originating "manto" type bodies and stockwork zones. They are hosted mainly in calcareous Cretaceous rocks of the Aurora formation, which is intruded by dike type bodies, sills and intrusive of dioritic and granodioritic composition related to the mineralization, producing silicate aureoles (garnet-diopside) in contact with the calcareous sediments. Structurally, La Encantada is located in the western flank of an anticline of regional dimensions, affected by faulting mainly of NW-SE and NE-SW trend, as a result of a stage of deformation in the Oligocene. These areas of weakness have been the channels of emplacement of intrusive bodies, preparing the ground for the subsequent stages of mineral body formation. The mineralogy of the deposits is predominantly Fe oxides, carbonates and lead sulphates with high concentrations of silver (argentite and native silver) values as the result of an oxidation process and enrichment in a known vertical range of more than 400 meters; from an elevation of 2,035 to 1,600 m.a.s.l. Beneath the elevation 1,600, there is a presence of sulphides of Pb-Ag-Zn in the south-western part of the La Encantada mine (La Morena ore-bodie). The brecciated chimney type ore bodies are the ones where most of the tonnage has been extracted to date (La Prieta, Escondida, Milagros and San Javier breccias). The replacement contact ore-bodies,include the 660 level and Ojuelas ore-bodies, and the vein type structures and "mantos" are generally within the San Javier area. The highest silver grades have been exploited in the nucleus of the brecciated columns and in the "mantos" areas with assayed values in selected areas reaching over 10kg/t of silver and more than 25% of lead.
The Resource/Reserve inventories are reported in NI 43-101 Technical Reports published periodically by the Company. These complete report can be veiwed in the Reserve/Resource Section (link below) or on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). A continuous program of mine & resource development, exploitation and exploration drilling is underway to continually improve mining operations and upgrade data to NI 43-101 compliance. Additional potential within the property on a regional level exists in the several zones defined by airborne magnetometry carried out by Peñoles and recently confirmed by First Majestic durina an extensive geophysical program. Additional exploration focus will be carried out on these areas in future programs. CONCLUSIONS Silver production has remained stable from 2008 levels to 2009. Once the new 3500 tpd cyanidation plant is fully running production will increase significantly to over 4.0 million ounces of silver annually in the form of silver dore bars. For more detailed geological information, readers are encouraged to review the Company's most recent NI 43-101 report (PDF, 21.7 Mb).
PHOTO GALLERY Click on Photo to Enlarge
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| ©2009 First Majestic Silver Corp. All Rights Reserved. |
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