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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 » Cuitaboca 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. In early 2006, it was determined that sufficient ore was being developed to justify the construction of a new mill with a capacity of 800 tpd. Construction began in March 2006 and was completed in December. Two 400 tpd circuits; one to handle oxide ore, and the other to handle sulphide ore were included in the mill design. At this level of production, the La Parrilla Silver Mine will be producing approximately 1,800,000 ounces of silver 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 subsequently shut down due to low silver prices. Prior to the mining shutdown, most of the ore was believed to have been extracted from the main Los Rosarios vein. This area of the structure consists of two ore shoots, which have been explored and mined underground to a depth of 330 m and along strike over a length of approximately 660 m. Both shoots are open to depth and along strike. The vein width varies from a cm scale in the east and west ends to approximately 20 m in width in Ore Shoot 2. These shoots represent swellings giving the appearance of the beads of a rosary, hence the name Los Rosarios. It is anticipated that several similar ore shoots are present along the intersecting structures of over a length of at least 4kms.
At the San Jose area, 1.6 km east southeast of the La Parrilla mine entrance, surface exploration, underground development and diamond drilling have revealed a structure with a strike and dip similar to the Los Rosarios vein. There is some evidence of historical mining in the upper oxidized levels of San Jose but there are no records of mining in the deeper sulphide zone. Since First Majestic began operations and development, this area has been one of the focuses and has been included in the NI 43-101's filed to date. Other areas within the La Parrilla land package, including the San Nicolas and San Marcos areas also show evidence of historic activity, however few records exist. Drilling for development and exploration is presently ongoing at both locations. As development of La Parrilla continues, these targets are becoming a high priority as the San Marcos mine is presently supplying a substantial amount of ore to the mill. Development and drilling in these areas are underway to develop the silver resource at depth below the deeply leached and oxidized portions of the vein structures.
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, owned by Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V., is one of the oldest mining districts in Mexico. Mineralization consists of Ag-Cu-Pb-Zn veins and Cu-Zn-Ag bearing skarns, hosted by thin-bedded limestone, shale, and mudstone of Mid Cretaceous age and early Tertiary granodiorite-quartz monzonite intrusive rocks. Currently, Mexico's largest underground mine, 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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| ©2006 First Majestic Resource Corp. All Rights Reserved. |
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