The Shafter silver mine in Texas, owned and operated by Aurcana Corp. (CVE: AUN), has achieved commercial production status, the company announced on Friday.
From Proactive Investors:
“I am very pleased to announce that commercial production at Shafter mine in Texas has started,” said president and CEO of Aurcana, Lenic Rodriguez.
“By commencing production at Shafter, Aurcana achieves yet another important milestone in our pursuit to become a senior silver producer.”
The Shafter facility processes around 600 tons/day, almost entirely high-grade underground ore. It employs 152 workers, but more are expected to join in January as operations scale up.
From current levels, Aurcana expects to increase production to 1,500 tons/day at the end of Phase I, producing roughly 3.8 million ounces of silver per year. Gecko Research, a group of private Swedish investors who own stock in Aurcana, expects the company to reach 2,500 tons/day sometime in 2013.
The Shafter facility is Aurcana’s second operating mine; the first is the La Negra mine in Mexico, which is currently expanding production to reach 3,000 tons/day by the end of Q1 2013.
That mine is fairly well-stocked; it has indicated resources of 115.1 million ounces of silver, 1m418.7 million pounds of zinc, 539.5 million pounds of lead, and 269.5 million pounds of copper, as Proactive Investors reports.
Initial production numbers should be reported in Aurcana’s Q1 financials. The company has gained 42 percent in 2012.
