Mill commissioning at Fresnillo’s Juanicipio joint venture in Mexico has been delayed by six months after the state electricity company said it could not give the go-ahead for connection to the national power grid due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The silver and gold project is operated with MAG Silver Corp. Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad said staff shortages meant it could not review the existing installation; supervise physical connection to the active power grid; and approve required blackout prevention devices.
Stoping and mineralized mine development at Juanicipio will continue. Fresnillo said it would 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 match commissioning and ramp up tonnages that were previously expected “if possible”.
“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 Fresnillo chief executive Octavio Alvidrez.
