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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 Parrilla Silver Mine
The property is located 65km due southeast of the city of Durango in the western part of the Mexican Altiplano at 23 degrees 44' 16" North latitude and 104 degrees 06' 26" West longitude. The nearest towns are San Jose de La Parrilla, 1.5km to the north of the property, and the larger Vicente Guerrero, 16km to the southeast. Excellent infrastructure exists in the area with the mine only 4 km away from the main highway which links Durango and Zacatecas. Among the several large vein systems included within the La Parrilla property boundaries, the company is focusing on the La Rosa/Los Rosarios, San Marcos, San José, San Nicolás, Vacas, Quebradilla, La Luz and Recuerdo structures. Most of the silver ore presently being mined comes from Los Rosarios, La Rosa, San Jose, and San Marcos mines. The figure below illustrates the geographical layout of First Majestic's Land package. Development and exploration drilling commenced in July 2005 with a focus on resource definition and exploration of the strike and depth of the known structures. It is thought that several ore shoots exist along a strike length of at least 4 km.
As can be seen from the cross section above, First Majestic has been developing the underground in Ore Shoots No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 in preparation of increased volumes of mining. This development will continue at depth and along strike well into the future. The current mill runs with two 425 tpd circuits; one to handle oxide ore, and the other to handle sulphide ore. Production at the La Parrilla Silver Mine consists of 50% silver dore bars and 50% lead concentrate which also contains silver. Current silver eqv. productions is 1.3 million ounces per year.
La Parrilla lies near the western edge of the Mexican Altiplano, an extensive volcanic plateau characterized by narrow, northwest trending, fault-controlled ranges separated by wide, flat-floored basins. In the Durango area these basins sit at 1900 m to 2100 m above sea level, with the surrounding peaks rising up to 3000 m. This region is cool and dry in the winter months, with a distinct summer rainy season from June to September. The mining district of La Parrilla is underlain by Mid Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, including limestone, shale, and mudstone. The silver-lead-zinc mineralization in the various sectors of the property is hosted in vein-fault zones, breccias and replacement bodies. These occur within the porphyritic diorite intrusive rocks and in the adjacent limestone, skarn, and hornfels rocks. La Parrilla was originally operated from 1956 to 1999 and was shut down due to low silver prices. La Parrilla is an industrial complex made up of several known mines which surround the mill facility. It is anticipated that several similar ore shoots are present along the intersecting structures of over a length of at least 4kms.
Areas under development include: San Marcos, San Nicolas and Vacas. All these mines are located within the "La Parrilla Working Area" shown on the map below. This area represents only 3,500 hectares of the 53,000 hectares First Majestic owns. Development and exploration is presently ongoing. (See NI43-101 Resource Table)
The region surrounding Durango and Zacatecas, is historically known for its world class silver deposits, hence the name Mexico Silver Belt - but large tonnages of lead, zinc, copper and gold have also been mined in the region. Many of the smaller districts and prospects remain under explored. There are a variety of deposit types in the area. Large quartz veins were mined in the Zacatecas District and are now being developed in the Fresnillo District. In addition, bulk tonnage, intrusion related deposits in stockworks, skarns, chimneys, and mantos have also been identified and remain prospective exploration targets. Currently, exploration is active in this region, as several junior and major companies have staked large claim blocks. The mineralized structures at La Parrilla are thought to have similarities to intrusion-related mineralization in the Fresnillo, Sombrerete, and Chalchihuites districts in Zacatecas. The nearest large operating mine complex is San Martin/Sabinas, located in Sombrerete, Zacatecas, 35 km southeast of La Parrilla. The San Martin/Sabinas complex is one of the oldest mining districts in Mexico and largest underground mine in Mexico. The San Martin mining unit, is recovering silver, copper, lead and zinc from two concentrators with a combined throughput of 5800 tonnes per day (Grupo Mexico, 2004). Sabinas ore grades around 4% Zn, 1% Cu, 120 g/t Ag and 0.5% Pb while the San Martin mine has had a historical average grade of around 5% Zn, 1% Cu, 150 g/t Ag and 0.5% Pb.
For more detailed geological information, readers are encouraged to review the Company's most recent NI 43-101 report (PDF, 20.45 Mb).
Click here To download the entire La Parrilla 43-101 Technical Report
PHOTO GALLERY Click on Photo to Enlarge
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| ©2009 First Majestic Silver Corp. All Rights Reserved. |
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