Silvercorp Updates El Domo Development Plans and Staffing
VANCOUVER, British Columbia –August 21, 2024 – With the successful acquisition of Adventus Mining Corporation on July 31, 2024 and the receipt of the Change of Phase for the El Domo copper-gold project (the “Project”) (see August 6, 2024 news release), Silvercorp Metals Inc. (“Silvercorp” or the “Company”) (TSX/NYSE American: SVM), its Ecuadorian subsidiary, Curimining S.A. (“Curimining”), and Salazar Resources Limited (TSX-V: SRL, OTCQB: SRLZF) (“Salazar”, collectively with Silvercorp, and Curimining, the “Companies”), are pleased to report that the Companies have initiated the process for construction with a goal to bring the Project into production some time in 2026, as previously planned.
Senior Mining Executives Added to the Team
Silvercorp has recently hired Jaymes Dircks to be the General Manager of Curimining, to lead the construction of the Project. Jaymes specializes in mine construction and project management. Previously, he worked at B2Gold Corp. where he was the General Manager of B2Gold Nunavut. Prior to that, he was with Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. where he was the construction director of the Backriver Project in Nunavut, and Aldridge Minerals Inc. where he was the EPC director for the Yenipazar mine in Turkey. Jaymes has over 30 years of experience in all aspects of mining development, with a focus on on-site construction leadership. Jaymes will spend the preponderance of his time in Ecuador at the Project site.
In addition to Jaymes, the Company has also hired a senior mining engineer with experience in building and operating large scale open pittable copper mines.
Construction Preparation and Flowsheet Improvement
The Company has also identified several priority and parallel projects, such as 1) further metallurgical test work to improve metal recoveries, 2) advancing the power supply for mine operation, as well as optimization and improvement of access infrastructure, 3) completing Detailed Engineering Design, including the improved operational efficiency of the process plant, mining pit optimization and construction planning based on the 2021 Feasibility Study[1], and 4) reviewing and selecting suitable vendors, such as experienced mine, process plant and tailings storage facility builders, and processing equipment manufacturers for the mills.
The metallurgical test work may have the most impact on the improvement of the economics of the Project. The current flow sheet, as defined in the 2021 Feasibility Study, floats all sulphide minerals (“bulk float”) in the rougher circuit, including copper (“Cu”), zinc (“Zn”), lead (“Pb”) and pyrite first, and then separates copper, zinc, and lead into three different concentrates, with approximately 36% of the gold (“Au”) and 33% of the silver (“Ag”) reporting to the copper concentrate, and approximately 15% of the Au and 24% of the Ag reporting to the zinc concentrate.
After reviewing the 2019 metallurgical study by Base Met Labs, located in Kamloops, British Columbia and Curimining, the Company has found that the tests that sequentially floating copper first yielded much higher Au and Ag recoveries (see table below) at the lower concentrate mass pull than the current bulk flotation flowsheet, especially the Test #26, which yielded a rougher copper concentrate with 87% Cu, 74% Au, and 53% Ag recoveries. For unknown reasons, these sequential selective flotation of copper upfront tests were not continued after 2019.
[1] NI 43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study Curipamba El Domo Project Central Ecuador, Effective Date October 26, 2021, available on www.sedarplus.ca
Based on this analysis, the Company plans to drill for metallurgical samples for further testing. Any potential process optimization arising from this test work will still result in the Project producing the same three different concentrates via a flotation process. In parallel to the metallurgical drilling, a five-hole geotechnical drilling campaign has also been planned to optimize open pit slope design and mine planning.
Qualified Person
Jinxing Ji, P. Eng., an independent consultant engaged by Silvercorp is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”), and has reviewed and given consent to the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.