Santacruz Silver Mining (SCZ.V) has produced approximately 147,000 ounces of pure silver in a total silver-equivalent production of 272,000 ounces during the second quarter, a decrease of 6.4%. This decrease was predominantly caused by a much lower average grade (331 g/t AgEq, down 15% compared to Q1 2016), but this was partly compensated by a higher processing rate as the total amount of processed tonnes increased by almost 10%.
According to the company, the issues were related to the unavailability of some equipment, as a 400 tonnes per day ball mill was down for unscheduled maintenance during three weeks. This forced the company to use the two smaller mills resulting in a much lower recovery rate (the recovery rate of the silver was 8% lower than in the first quarter of the year). This had an impact of approximately 12,000 ounces of silver and 28 ounces of gold.
The company continues to advance the development activities at the Veta Grande mine, where Santacruz achieved a total production rate of 400 tonnes per day by the end of last quarter. The company is now planning to install an additional ball mill with a capacity of 1,200 tonnes per day by the end of this year, to increase the capacity.
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