Arian Silver Corp (LON:AGQ) , the silver exploration, development and production company with a focus on projects in the silver belt of Mexico, reported this morning that the first batch of silver concentrate had been produced from its flagship San Jose mine in Zacatecas State The first batch of San Jose concentrate comprised 7.5 tonnes and contained 12.4 kilograms of silver (400 ounces) per tonne. In an update on operations, the company said it had also completed eight new drill holes along the San Jose Vein (SJV) and that optimising of its processing mill, which has been in operation since September this year, was progressing well.
Arian said that mining at San Jose was progressing well and the operation was currently focused on stoping at the 'Ramal Sur' block and concurrently advancing the main haulage ramp in a westerly direction towards the higher-grade 'Santa Ana' block, which itself comprises a number of stopes. In addition, improvements to the main haulage ramp have taken place to ensure a more efficient operation, specifically enabling the more rapid transportation of run-of-mine material from the underground loading area to the stockpile pad on the surface.
Core drilling is underway using two 'Longyear 44' drill rigs. Eight holes have been completed to date with a total of 1,518 metres, or 15.2% of the total programme, and the first samples have been submitted for analysis. Construction of the company's semi-mobile laboratory is progressing according to plan with the Stewart Group in British Columbia, Canada, and this is expected to be delivered to the San Jose Mine during January 2011. Turnaround times for assay results should significantly improve for drill core samples when this is in place.
Arian’s chief executive, Jim Williams, said: “It gives me great pleasure to report such positive progressive news regarding all of the company's major activities. We have been working on increasing the mining and milling efficiencies since production commenced at San Jose, and the results of these efforts are now becoming apparent with production of our first concentrate. Experts forecast that silver prices will continue to strengthen next year, just as we increase our production and begin to define some of the untested potential within the existing known mineralisation in the SJV system. The exciting substantial potential along the approximately 12 kilometres of strike extension of the…
Good company, excellent interview and I am pleased to say that Arian Silver Corp (LON:AGQ) has been tucked away in the p3dr036 ISA since April 2010!!
