Great Panther Resources Limited is the fastest growing primary silver producer in Mexico, targeting production of 4 million ounces of silver equivalent in 2007. With plans to expand production to 12 million over time, the Company is aiming to become one of the top five primary silver producers in the world.
Click on image for a video interview of Robert Archer, CEO of Great Panther:
Great Panther is listed as a mining company on the TSX Venture Exchange but has received conditional approval for listing on the main board of the TSX. The Company's head office is in Vancouver.
The Company owns 100% of two silver mines in Mexico, both of which have recently gone into production.
Mexico was the world's largest producer of silver in 2005 (at 103.3 million ounces, according to the CPM Group), followed by Peru (Canada ranks ninth at 34.1 million). Mexico is home to many high-grade gold and silver mines.
The map below shows the region within which the Company's properties lie, and are marked by red stars. Major mines and deposits operated by other companies are shown by red dots.
Guanajuato hosts the Valenciana mine, which was once considered the richest silver mine in the world.
Great Panther acquired the Guanajuato property in 2005 when the existing owner, a Mexican cooperative, was operating the property unprofitably at 20% of capacity with no capital for modernisation or exploration.
Silver has since climbed to over US$ 12 per ounce and with the output from the mines increasing towards capacity, this has helped raise the market capitalisation of Great Panther from $ 21 million when the Acamar Journal began coverage in October 2005 to $ 133 million today.
This property is located within the city limits of the capital city of Guanajuato State, 380 km northwest of Mexico City. Guanajuato was for centuries one of the richest cities in Mexico, as enormous wealth poured out of its silver mines.
The Guanajuato Mining District is one of the most prolific and best known silver districts in the world, with silver being discovered in 1548 and estimates of historic production ranging from 700 million to 1.5 billion ounces of silver and 4 to 7 million ounces of gold. During the 18th century, the district was reportedly "producing one-third of the world's silver".
Acquired for US$7,250,000 the property covers 1,100 hectares in 2 main areas and includes a 1,200 tonne per day plant, workshops and administration facilities, complete mining infrastructure, mining equipment, and certain surface rights (real estate). In May, the Company acquired another 3.88 hectares of adjoining land in the Guanajuato area for US$ 0.69 million.
Production commenced in June 2006. The Company approved a $ 2.25 million capital expenditure budget to modernise equipment and build an on-site laboratory. The lab will be certified for NI 43-101 purposes and capable of processing about 65,000 samples a year from all of Great Panther's exploration & development activities on its various properties.
Production in November 2006 should reach a rate of 800 tonnes per day. In addition to striving to reach full production by January 2007, Great Panther also commenced drilling programs to better understand the nature of mineralisation, its continuity and accessibility around the ramps to feed the mills as productions ramps up.
A new silver-gold zone known as the Animas area was discovered in the second drill program, which will play a significant role in the Company's near term production plan. The fact that the Animas mineralisation is located virtually from surface down to about the 170 meter level underscores the fact that the upper levels of the Guanajuato Mine Complex have not been mined out.
The Topia Mining District is one of the oldest in Mexico, producing an estimated 30 million ounces of silver since 1538. Mexico's largest silver mining company, Minera Mexicana Peñoles, built the Topia silver mine in 1952 and produced substantial amounts of metal before selling the mine to a former manager in 1989. From 1952-1999, the mine produced 15 million ounces of silver, 18,500 ounces of gold, 48,000 tonnes of lead and 44,500 tonnes of zinc.
The Company owns 100% of the rights to mine 6,720 hectares. It acquired the core property for US$ 2.65 million (of which US$ 1.5 million is payable from future cash-flows).
The property has a 200 tonne per day mill onsite that has the potential to expand to 350 tonnes per day. The historical average mill head grades were 437 g/t silver, 0.87 g/t gold, 3.9% lead and 4.2% zinc and Great Panther's production in 2006 has been at similar grades. Production ceased in 1999 due to low silver prices and resumed in 2005 at 25% of mill capacity prior to the sale of the property.
Great Panther commenced production at Topia in December 2005. The production rate in October 2006 was 120 tonnes per day (tpd), with plans to increase to about 175 tpd in November. The Company plans to produce about 1.4 million ounces silver equivalent from Topia in 2007.
The Km 66 project, in Durango State, Mexico, consists of 17 concessions comprising 3,508 hectares located approximately 100 kilometers from Peñoles' smelter at Torreon (66 km from the Bermejillo intersection, hence the name).
September 2006, following work done by Wardrop Engineering, Great Panther has now tabled a NI 43-101 compliant resource for Km66. Using a 50 g/t silver equivalent cut-off grade, Wardrop estimates that the Palmitas and Gloria Zones together contain an Inferred Mineral Resource of 4,969,800 tonnes at a grade of 59 g/t Ag, 0.13 g/t Au, 0.81% Pb and 1.31% Zn.
Wardrop calculated that these grades equate to a silver equivalent grade of 139 g/t using commodity prices (based upon 3 year averages) of US$7.70/oz for silver, US$471/oz for gold, US$0.41/lb for lead and US$0.69/lb for zinc and recoveries of 76%, 70%, 80% and 80%, respectively. This resource equates to a total of 22.3 million ounces of silver equivalent. Great Panther intends to fast-track this project to feasibility with the view that it has potential for a significant open pit mine.
The Virimoa Property is situated in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mineral Belt and close to a number of significant gold and gold-silver deposits. It is 17 kilometres southwest of Great Panther's Topia Silver Mine. The claims cover 148 hectares. The Company has conducted a small diamond drilling program following the successful delineation of a 250 metre wide zone of gold-silver-zinc mineralization. The drilling indicated that the zone also contains a significant amount of copper and further work is planned to determine the extent of the mineralization.
The San Antonio Gold-Copper Project lies within the well-known Guadalupe y Calvo Mining District in southwest Chihuahua. It comprises 3 mining concessions that total 11,746 hectares.
Great Panther conducted a 20-hole, 2,000-metre diamond drilling program, which helped to outline the presence of a gold-copper system more than 14km in size. The drill program was the first ever conducted on the property.
Robert Archer, PGeo (President & CEO): More than 25 years in the mining industry, including 15 years of mineral exploration with Placer Dome, Newmont, Rio Algom and Noranda and 10 years at the senior management level of junior exploration companies. Mr. Archer has participated in or supervised four positive feasibility studies, including one at Placer Dome's 15 million ounce (gold) Dome Mine. Mr. Archer has an Honours B.Sc. degree in geology from Laurentian University in Ontario.
Kaare G. Foy (Chairman & CFO): Director of several Canadian public companies including Cangold Limited & Monarch Energy Limited, Australia's Central Asia Gold Limited, and Golden Prospect Precious Metals Fund in the UK. Mr. Foy has a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Monash University in Australia and became an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants.
Malcolm A. Burne (Director): Executive Chairman of Golden Prospect PLC, a publicly listed UK gold fund. A former stockbroker and financier, Mr. Burne has worked throughout the world and is a highly successful and respected businessman with extensive contacts in London, where he lives.
John T. Kopcheff, (Director): Managing Director of Victoria Petroleum NL, a company listed on the main board of the Australian Stock Exchange. A petroleum geologist by training, Mr. Kopcheff has many years experience in managing and financing public companies.
Michael Turko (Director): Mr. Turko has been the CEO of several publicly traded oil and gas companies since 1983. He is currently CEO of Monarch Energy. Mr. Turko obtained his Bachelor of Science (Geology) degree at the University of British Columbia in 1981.
Ing. Francisco Ramos Sanchez (Vice-President of Operations): With 28 years in the mining industry, Ing. Ramos is a Mexican mining engineer and metallurgist based in Mexico. He designed and built the plant for Luismin's (owned by Goldcorp) San Martin Mine in Queretaro State and is highly respected in the Mexican mining industry.
Robert Brown, PEng (Vice-President of Exploration): More than 30 years in the mining industry including extensive experience throughout the Americas. Mr. Brown spent 15 years with Lac Minerals, culminating in the position of Exploration Manager for Western Canada. He has a degree in engineering geology from Queen's University.
Ing. Jesus Rico, MBA (General Mine Manager, Guanajuato): Ing. Rico is a Mexican mining engineer with almost 30 years experience in the mining industry. He used to manage the Topia Mine for Peñoles in the mid-1980's and was previously General Manager of Peñoles' operations in Guanajuato as well as mine manager at a number of Peñoles' other operations in Mexico.
Ing. Javier Melchor Ramirez (General Mine Manager, Topia): Ing. Ramirez has 30 years experience with a variety of mining companies throughout Mexico and was most recently Mine Manager at a 300 tpd operation in Guerrero State.
Great Panther has the opportunity to become a highly profitable mining company, if it is able to operate its newly acquired mines at their previous capacities and grades, or better. With silver prices now over US$ 12 per oz., these mines have historically produced at a cost between US$ 3 & 4 per oz. Successful execution will allow the Company, at full production on the above properties, to become one of the leading primary silver producers in the world.
It is ramping up production to a capacity of approximately 4 million ounces of silver equivalent, while implementing a mining plan to improve grades. It is undertaking exploration to discover new resources.
For more information, please visit the Company website at: www.greatpanther.com
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