In its corporate update on Wednesday, Excellon Resources Inc. (TSX: EXN) shared that it is assessing if it should continue maintaining a consistent production schedule at the Platosa mine in Mexico.
“We continue to explore from underground and surface and refine the operation, but we are now assessing the economic viability of mining at Platosa beyond mid-2022,” said CEO Brendan Cahill.
The mining firm acknowledged that it is entering an area of the deposit “with fewer vertical tonnes-per-metre than historically encountered.” It also cited a number of challenges in 2021, including natural gas price increase due to the polar vortex in February 2021, and increased labour costs due to changes in Mexican legislation.
The company conducted underground drilling in 2021 at the site covering 20,462 metres. One of the program’s key goals is to define the “Gap Zone” in the area which holds potential additional mineralization, but the drilling “has not sufficiently infilled this area.”
“The company is assessing whether maintaining a consistent production schedule beyond mid-2022 at achievable dewatering rates and with acceptable capital expenditures is possible without additional mineralization being defined in the Gap Zone or elsewhere,” the company further said.
In October 2021, the firm reported producing 521,160 silver equivalent ounces from the Plantosa mine in Q3 2021. This is marginally lower than Q3 2020’s production of 524,312 ounces.
The mining company said it will “provide additional updates as 2022 mining plans continue to evolve.” Meanwhile, it is launching a 2,000-metre surface drilling program in the coming weeks to test anomalous mineralization at the site.
Excellon Resources last traded at $1.40 on the TSX.
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