Santacruz Silver Completes First Phase of Commissioning at Veta Grande

Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSXV:SCZ) reported on the status of processing plant commissioning at its Mexico-based Veta Grande mine.
Highlights include:

• Refurbishment of the processing plant to produce both lead and zinc concentrates has been completed.
• Commissioning of the plant circuits began in early January 2016.
• Mine preparation and development was initiated in November 2015 by focusing efforts on the La Flor, Armados, El Cigarrero and Veta Grande veins.
• First concentrates deliveries to off-taker were successfully completed in early February.
• Initial production target is 350 tpd by the end of Q1 2016.
• Commissioning and production ramp up will continue throughout February with focus on increasing recoveries and head grade of mill-feed.

Arturo Prestamo, CEO of Santacruz Silver, commented:

The first phase of commissioning of the refurbished Veta Grande processing plant has gone according to plan. Going forward the mill-feed for the plant is expected to be sourced solely from newly developed underground mine workings, which should result in a steady increase of the silver grades and improved recoveries. We have been very pleased with the progress achieved both in the mine and at the Veta Grande plant. The operations team has done an excellent job refurbishing this asset and making improvements that will benefit us as we progress through the year. In addition we are assessing the opportunity to deliver Veta Grande mill-feed to the Rosario Mine in order to leverage the available capacity at the Rosario milling facility. Any such decision will not impact the primary objective of maximizing production at the Veta Grande Mine.

Click here to read the full Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSXV:SCZ) press release.