Trevali Achieves Commercial Production at Peru-based Santander Mine

Reaching a key milestone today was zinc-focused base metals miner Trevali Mining (TSX:TV,OTCQX:TREVF), whose Santander zinc-lead–silver mine in Peru has achieved commercial production.
The company’s path to this point has been fairly smooth. It began producing concentrate at Santander in August 2013, and by September had “increased both mill throughput and head-grades to the point” that both were at the processing plant’s nameplate design capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day.
Over the next few months, mill performance improved steadily. When January rolled around, average zinc recovery sat at 84.9 percent, while average lead and silver recovery came in at 84.8 and 70.7 percent, respectively. Thus far, the mill has processed about 310,000 tonnes of feed and produced 22,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 7,000 tonnes of lead-silver concentrate.
Moving forward, Trevali plans to continue optimizing operations at Santander “to further boost efficiencies, recovery rates and metal concentrate production.” That will include advancing underground development and increasing the number of production faces, among other initiatives.
Its 2014 guidance in payable metals is:

• 42 to 45 million pounds of zinc
• 15 to 17 million pounds of lead
• 700,000 to 720,000 ounces of silver

Those watching Trevali can also expect to see it give New Brunswick more attention moving forward. Mark Cruise, the company’s president and CEO, explained in today’s press release, “[w]ith Santander now in commercial production, the Company’s development focus will shift to its New Brunswick operations and preparing the Caribou mine and mill complex for start-up and commissioning.”
Shares of Trevali are currently selling for $1.10 each.
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
Editorial Disclosure: Trevali Mining is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content. 
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Trevali Moves Forward as Zinc Prices Hold Steady
PROJECT UPDATE: Trevali Now Producing Concentrate at Santander Mine