REG - Fresnillo Plc - Juanicipio Commissioning Update

FresnilloAnnouncement

29/12/2021 07:00

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RNS Number : 8141W  Fresnillo PLC  29 December 2021

 
 

 Fresnillo plc                                        MAG Silver Corp.

Suite 770
 21 Upper Brook Street
800 West Pender Street

 London W1K 7PY                                       Vancouver, BC V6C 2V6

 United Kingdom                                       www.magsilver.com (http://www.magsilver.com)

 www.fresnilloplc.com (http://www.fresnilloplc.com)

 

December 27, 2021

FRESNILLO AND MAG SILVER

PROVIDE JUANICIPIO COMMISSIONING UPDATE

 

Fresnillo plc ("Fresnillo") and MAG Silver Corp. ("MAG Silver") today provide
a commissioning update on the Juanicipio Project (56% / 44% Fresnillo and MAG
Silver, respectively).

 

The Juanicipio Project team delivered the Project for plant commissioning on
schedule despite the recent changes to labour contracting legislation and
having successfully mitigated most COVID-19 related issues over the past two
years, a testament to the dedication of the operational and development teams
on the ground.

However, the 'Comisión Federal de Electricidad' ("CFE"), the state-owned
electrical company, has just notified Fresnillo, the Juanicipio Project
operator, that approval to complete the tie-in to the national power grid
cannot yet be granted and the mill commissioning timeline will therefore be
extended by approximately six months. This is directly related to knock-on
effects of the pandemic on the CFE's operations, predominantly related to a
lack of CFE staff which limits its ability to oversee three key tasks to:
review the existing installation; supervise physical connection to the active
power grid; and approve required blackout prevention devices.

As operator, Fresnillo will continue to engage closely with the CFE and 'El
Centro Nacional de Control de Energía' ("CENACE") to do all that it can to
expedite these necessary approvals. Although there remains uncertainty
regarding the timing for connecting the Juanicipio Project to the power grid,
the current estimate, which continues to be subject to potential COVID-19
related realities, is that full load commissioning activities will be approved
sometime after the first week of May 2022.

Stoping and mineralized mine development at Juanicipio will continue. In order
to minimize any potential adverse effect, Fresnillo will make available any
unused plant capacity at its Minera Fresnillo and Minera Saucito operations to
process mineralized material produced at Juanicipio during this period, and if
possible matching commissioning and ramp up tonnages that were previously
expected. The effect on cashflow generation from Juanicipio therefore will
also be mitigated while CFE approvals are pending.

"As an industry, we continue to manage the ongoing impact of the pandemic and
while frustrating for all concerned, we recognize this situation is beyond the
control of all parties," said Octavio Alvidrez, Chief Executive of Fresnillo
plc. "The health and safety of our people and all our partners remains our
priority. We thank the CFE for their engagement and will continue to work
closely with them to accelerate grid connection as quickly as we can.
Meanwhile, we will continue to process mineralized development material by
using any excess capacity available at the Minera Fresnillo and Minera Saucito
plants, minimizing any impact on future cashflow generation."

"We are very fortunate to be able to process mineralized material from
Juanicipio through the excess capacity available at the Minera Fresnillo and
Minera Saucito plants, which should minimize the economic impact of the
electrical connection timing," said George Paspalas, President and CEO of MAG
Silver. "The Juanicipio Project team has managed through stringent COVID-19
protocols to make the process plant effectively ready for start-up.  However,
approvals for the electrical connection for the Project have been affected by
governmental COVID-19 restrictions that have severely limited the CFE in
carrying out their reviews and final sign-off. We look forward to the CFE
resuming normal activities, so we can flip the switch on our plant!"

 

About Fresnillo plc

 

Fresnillo plc is the world's largest primary silver producer and Mexico's
largest gold producer, listed on the London and Mexican Stock Exchanges under
the symbol FRES.

 

Fresnillo plc has seven operating mines, all of them in Mexico - Fresnillo,
Saucito, Ciénega (including the San Ramón satellite mine, Las Casas Rosario
& Cluster Cebollitas), Herradura, Soledad-Dipolos1, Noche Buena and San
Julián (Veins and Disseminated Ore Body), three development projects - the
Pyrites Plant at Fresnillo, the optimisation of the beneficiation plant also
at Fresnillo and Juanicipio, and three advanced exploration projects - Rodeo,
Orisyvo and Guanajuato, as well as a number of other long term exploration
prospects.

 

Fresnillo plc has mining concessions and exploration projects in Mexico, Peru
and Chile.

 

Fresnillo plc has a strong and long tradition of exploring, mining, a proven
track record of mine development, reserve replacement, and production costs in
the lowest quartile of the cost curve for silver.

 

Fresnillo plc's goal is to maintain the Group's position as the world's
largest primary silver company and Mexico's largest gold producer.

(1) Operations at Soledad-Dipolos are currently suspended.

 

For further information, please visit our website: www.fresnilloplc.com
(http://www.fresnilloplc.com) or contact:

 

 Fresnillo plc                                                  Tel: +44 (0)20 7399 2470

 London Office

 Gabriela Mayor, Head of Investor Relations

 Patrick Chambers
 Mexico City Office                                             Tel: +52 55 52 79 3206

 Ana Belem Zárate
 Powerscourt                                                    Tel: +44 (0)20 7549 0997
 Peter Ogden

 

About MAG Silver Corp.

 

MAG Silver Corp. is a Canadian development and exploration company focused on
becoming a top-tier primary silver mining company by exploring and advancing
high-grade, district scale, silver-dominant projects in the Americas. Its
principal focus and asset is the Juanicipio Project (44%), being developed
with Fresnillo Plc (56%), the operator. The Project is located in the
Fresnillo Silver Trend in Mexico, the world's premier silver mining camp,
where the operator is currently developing an underground mine and
constructing a 4,000 tonnes per day processing plant. Underground mine
production of mineralized development material commenced in Q3 2020, and an
expanded exploration program is in place targeting multiple highly prospective
targets at Juanicipio. MAG is also executing a multi-phase exploration program
at the Deer Trail 100% earn-in project in Utah.

 

 

For further information on behalf of MAG Silver Corp.

Contact Michael J. Curlook, VP Investor Relations and Communications

 

            Phone:             (604)
630-1399
Website:          www.magsilver.com (http://www.magsilver.com)

           Toll Free:         (866)
630-1399
Email:             info@magsilver.com (mailto:info@magsilver.com)

 

Fresnillo plc Forward Looking Statements

 

Information contained in this announcement may include 'forward-looking
statements'. All statements other than statements of historical facts included
herein, including, without limitation, those regarding the Fresnillo Group's
intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, amongst other things,
the Fresnillo Group's results of operations, financial position, liquidity,
prospects, growth, strategies and the silver and gold industries are
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and the
actual results of the Fresnillo Group's operations, financial position and
liquidity, and the development of the markets and the industry in which the
Fresnillo Group operates, may differ materially from those described in, or
suggested by, the forward-looking statements contained in this document. In
addition, even if the results of operations, financial position and liquidity,
and the development of the markets and the industry in which the Fresnillo
Group operates are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in
this document, those results or developments may not be indicative of results
or developments in subsequent periods. A number of factors could cause results
and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements including, without limitation, general economic and
business conditions, industry trends, competition, commodity prices, changes
in regulation, currency fluctuations (including the US dollar and Mexican Peso
exchanges rates), the Fresnillo Group's ability to recover its reserves or
develop new reserves, including its ability to convert its resources into
reserves and its mineral potential into resources or reserves, changes in its
business strategy and political and economic uncertainty.

LEI: 549300JXWH1UV5J0XV81

 

 

 

MAG Silver Corp. Forward Looking Statements

 

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor the NYSE American has reviewed or
accepted responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this press release,
which has been prepared by management.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this release, other than
statements of historical facts are forward looking statements, including
statements that address our expectations with respect to the timing and
success of plant pre-commissioning and commissioning activities, processing
rates of development materials, future mineral production, and events or
developments. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified
by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue",
"estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential",
"targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar
expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially
from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Although MAG
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to, impacts (both direct and indirect) of COVID-19, timing
of receipt of required permits, changes in applicable laws, changes in
commodities prices, changes in mineral production performance,
exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and
financing, and general economic, market or business conditions, political
risk, currency risk and capital cost inflation. In addition, forward-looking
statements are subject to various risks, including that data is incomplete and
considerable additional work will be required to complete further evaluation,
including but not limited to drilling, engineering and socio-economic studies
and investment. The reader is referred to the MAG Silver's filings with the
SEC and Canadian securities regulators for disclosure regarding these and
other risk factors. There is no certainty that any forward-looking statement
will come to pass, and investors should not place undue reliance upon
forward-looking statements.

Please Note: Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in MAG's
annual and quarterly reports and other public filings, accessible through the
Internet at www.sedar.com (http://www.sedar.com) and www.sec.gov
(http://www.sec.govL)
 

LEI: 254900LGL904N7F3EL14

 

 

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