TORONTO, Jan. 5, 2022 /CNW/ - Excellon Resources
Inc. (TSX: EXN) (NYSE: EXN) (FRA: E4X2) ("Excellon" or
the "Company") is providing an update on operations at
Platosa and company-wide exploration plans over the course of 2022,
with additional updates to be forthcoming as mining and exploration
plans evolve over the coming months.
"The Platosa Mine has been in operation since mid-2005 and has
been a key contributor to the local economy of Bermejillo, Durango," stated Brendan Cahill, President and CEO. "We have made
great progress at Platosa over the past 16 years, professionalizing
the mining operation, improving health and safety to industry
standards, growing mineral resources and overcoming Platosa's
particular dewatering challenges. We have continued to aggressively
drill to expand and define the mineral resource in recent years,
but we are entering an area of the deposit that steepens
significantly, with fewer vertical-tonnes-per-metre than
historically encountered. The last two years have seen an increase
in the challenges we face in Mexico, particularly the impact on dewatering
rates of the suspension of industries in Q2 2020 and the polar
vortex in February 2021, along with
increased consumable prices and certain legislative changes. We
continue to explore from underground and surface and refine the
operation, but we are now assessing the economic viability of
mining at Platosa beyond mid-2022. We will provide additional
updates as 2022 mining plans continue to evolve. Contemporaneously,
we also continue to advance exploration on each of our projects and
we are considering various strategic alternatives to unlock value
in each of our assets."
Operation and Mine Planning Discussion
During 2021, the Platosa Mine and Miguel Auza mill delivered four quarters of
stable production at record rates (six consecutive quarters looking
back to Q3 2020). Annual and Q4 production results for 2021 are
expected to be released in the coming weeks.
The Company conducted extensive underground drilling over the
past six quarters, including 320 holes totalling 20,462 metres
during 2021. Much of this drilling successfully improved definition
of mineralized bodies in advance of mining operations and
incrementally added tonnage to the mineralized body. A key goal of
this drilling, as variously stated, was to define tonnage in an
area of deposit, the "Gap Zone," that had not been sufficiently
drilled with historic vertical holes from surface and which held
significant potential for additional mineralization connecting the
shallower parts of the mineralized body with the deepest defined
extents. Drilling in the Gap Zone has not sufficiently infilled
this area of the deposit.
Over the course of 2021, cost increases impacted the operation
in various areas, particularly energy (associated with increasing
natural gas prices from the polar vortex of February 2021, which were subsequently sustained
in part throughout 2021) and labour, the two largest cost centres.
Additionally, legislative changes in Mexico further materially increased labour
costs.
The Company is assessing whether maintaining a consistent
production schedule beyond mid-2022 at achievable dewatering rates
and with acceptable capital expenditures is possible without
additional mineralization being defined in the Gap Zone or
elsewhere.
Underground drilling continues and results are forthcoming on
various areas of the deposit, including follow-up results from the
vertically-oriented 817 Zone (2,860 g/t AgEq over 7.5 metres in
EX21UG690). Ongoing underground exploration is testing for other
potential vertical zones of mineralization. The Company is also
launching an up to 2,000 metre surface drilling program in the
coming weeks to test anomalous mineralization approximately 90
metres southeast of Manto 623. This drilling will be important to
define mine planning for 2022 and is expected to provide insights
by late Q1 2022.
Exploration Outlook
The Company has ambitious exploration plans on each of its
projects for 2022. The brief summary of programs outlined below is
flexible to market and liquidity conditions and receipt of
outstanding data and data generated from the proposed programs.
More detailed, project specific summaries may be provided prior to
the commencement of each program. Updates on the 2022 program for
the Oakley Project, operated and managed by Centerra Gold pursuant
to the terms of the option agreement on the project, will also be
provided in due course.
Platosa
Beyond the programs outlined above, the Company has a 2,700
metre drill program at PDN planned for H2 2022. PDN is a
skarn-related target approximately two kilometres north of the
Platosa Mine associated with the Rincón del Caído discovery made in
2012. The target is an 800-metre-long geophysical anomaly derived
from induced polarization, magnetics and gravity surveys. The
discovery horizon is at approximately 500-800 metres depth, which
has necessitated an incremental drilling approach.
The Company is conducting an O18 isotope study on the
Jaboncillo target, approximately
11 kilometres northwest of the Platosa Mine. Jaboncillo is a Platosa- or CRD-style target,
where exploration is testing for massive sulphide mantos and
chimneys. The isotope study has been delayed due to COVID
limitations in the academic labs capable of conducting the work.
Combined with the strong understanding of stratigraphy and
structure derived from geophysics and recent drilling programs, the
isotope study is expected to provide additional information on the
characteristics of the Jaboncillo
hydrothermal system and additional vectors for a potential drilling
program in late-2022.
Evolución
At the Evolución Project, the Company has planned approximately
4,600 metres of drilling for H2 2022 at the Ilusión and
Los Lobos targets, which may lie
on the structure regionally controlling Hecla Mining's San
Sebastián Mine, northwest of the project. The program is based on
an ongoing regional structural geology study by a Ph.D. candidate
from the Université du Québec à Montréal, detailed
mapping and rock and soil geochemistry.
Kilgore
The Company expects to commence a drilling program of
approximately 15,000 metres on the Kilgore Project in mid-2022
pursuant to the terms of the drilling operations plan permitted by
the United States Forest Service. The program is focussed on the
Mine Ridge area, with 9,800 metres to expand the Kilgore deposit along strike and test
high-grade mineralization at depth and an additional 1,800 metres
to support metallurgical, geotechnical and hydrological studies.
Additional drilling is planned for Prospect Ridge (1,250 metres) to
test mineralization at depth and along strike from the deposit and
Dog Bone Ridge (1,800 metres) to follow up on historic high-grade
intersections. Drilling may also be conducted at the Gold Ridge
target depending on results from drilling to depth at the Mine
Ridge target and to follow-up on soil sampling anomalies.
Silver City
The Company currently expects to resume drilling on the Silver
City Project in late January to close out the 2021 program,
dependant on pending results from the Grauer Wolf target. Drilling
may be conducted until March
31st and resumed on approximately July 1st based on crop planting and
bird nesting cycles. Subject to annual permitting requirements, the
currently proposed 2022 drilling program at Silver City includes
approximately 9,000 metres of drilling on the Grauer Wolf,
Peter Vein and Reichenbach targets
and approximately 2,100 metres testing of known mineralized
structures on the Oederan, Mohorn and Frauenstein licenses, which
were added to the project in 2021. Various soil and ground
geophysical studies are expected on the project during 2022 and
advanced structural analysis is considered a high priority.
Corporate Development and Strategic Alternatives
The Company is considering various corporate development
opportunities and strategic alternatives that may include
acquisitions, divestitures, mergers or spin-offs of the Company's
or third parties' assets, as applicable.
Qualified Person
Paul Keller, P.Eng., Chief
Operating Officer, has acted as the Qualified Person, as defined in
NI 43-101, with respect to the disclosure of the engineering and
operating information contained in this press release. Jorge Ortega, P.Geo., Vice President
Exploration, has acted as the Qualified Person, as defined in NI
43-101, with respect to the disclosure of the geological
information contained in this press release.
About Excellon
Excellon's vision is to create wealth by realizing strategic
opportunities through discipline and innovation for the benefit of
our employees, communities and shareholders. The Company is
advancing a precious metals growth pipeline that includes: Platosa,
Mexico's highest-grade silver mine
since production commenced in 2005; Kilgore, a high-quality advanced exploration
gold project in Idaho with strong
economics and significant growth and discovery potential; and an
option on Silver City, a high-grade epithermal silver district in
Saxony, Germany with 750 years of
mining history and no modern exploration. The Company also aims to
continue capitalizing on current market conditions by acquiring
undervalued projects.
Additional details on Excellon's properties are available at
www.excellonresources.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not
accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content
of this Press Release, which has been prepared by management. This
press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 27E of the
Exchange Act. Such statements include, without limitation,
statements regarding mineral resources estimates, the future
results of operations, performance and achievements of the Company,
including potential strategic transactions, the timing, content,
cost and results of proposed work programs, the discovery and
delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, geological
interpretations, proposed production rates, potential mineral
recovery processes and rates, business and financing plans,
business trends and future operating revenues. Although the Company
believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no
assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such
as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and
similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to
future events. The Company cautions investors that any
forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of
future results or performance, and that actual results may differ
materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of
various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the
nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be
located, significant downward variations in the market price of any
minerals produced, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary
permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to
produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to
continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to
be fully able to implement its business strategies. All of the
Company's public disclosure filings may be accessed via
www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials. This
press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an
offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors: The
terms "mineral resource," "measured mineral resource," "indicated
mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource," as used on
Excellon's website and in its press releases are Canadian mining
terms that are defined in accordance with National Instrument
43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI
43-101"). These Canadian terms are not defined terms under United
States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Industry Guide 7
and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and
registration statements filed with the SEC by U.S. registered
companies. The SEC permits U.S. companies, in their filings
with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a
company can economically and legally extract or
produce. Accordingly, note that information describing
the Company's "mineral resources" is not directly comparable to
information made public by U.S. companies subject to reporting
requirements under U.S. securities laws. U.S. investors are urged
to consider closely the disclosure in the Company's Form 40-F which
may be secured from the Company, or online
at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
SOURCE Excellon Resources Inc.