Acquisition:
2015 / 10 / 27
Agreement:
Stream
Terms:
20% Ag up to a maximum of 1.2 Mozs of silver annually, until 7.0 Mozs are delivered; then
9% Ag for the life of the mine
Ongoing Payment:
30% of spot
The Cerro Moro silver-gold deposit is located within the Deseado Massif approximately 70 km southwest of the coastal port city of Puerto Deseado in the Santa Cruz province of Argentina. Cerro Moro contains a number of high-grade epithermal gold and silver deposits, some of which will be mined via open pit and some via underground mining methods. The plant has the capacity to process 1,000 tpd and consists of a crushing, grinding and flotation circuit.
The Proven and Probable Reserve estimate as of June 30, 2023 is 1.2 Mt with an average grade of 276 g/t silver for11.3 Moz and 7.4 g/t gold for 302,000 ounces. The Reserve NSR cut-off values are $210.71/t (underground) and $124.72/t (open-pit) based on $1,600/oz gold and $19.00/oz silver.
On June 26, 2018, Yamana declared commercial production and in January 2019, Sandstorm began purchasing silver ounces from Cerro Moro. The mine produced 5,582,197 ounces of silver and 79,988 ounces of gold in 2021.
In 2021, Cerro Moro replaced its mineral reserve depletion for the first time, establishing what is expected to be an ongoing trend of extending mine life beyond the current life of mine. Additionally, Yamana is considering alternative processing options to allow for economic extraction of lower grade mineralization, including a plant expansion and a parallel heap leach operation. These projects represent significant upside opportunities to add to Cerro Moro production.