Premier Gold hits exploration hard at Mercedes mine

Premier Gold Mines (TSX: PG) is convinced it can add years to the mine life at its 2,000-tonne-per day Mercedes gold-silver mine in Mexico’s Sonora state. “We’ve got about a 4 to 5-year mine life based on current reserves, and that was the life when we bought it in 2016, so we’ve been successful in replacing reserves every year,” the company’s president and CEO, Ewan Downie, tells The Northern Miner. The underground mine, 250 km northeast of Hermosillo and 300 km south of Tucson, Ariz., contains reserves and resources from numerous deposits on the property. Proven and probable reserves at the end of 2018 totalled 3.38 million tonnes grading 3.63 grams gold per tonne and 25.05 grams silver per tonne, for 395,000 contained oz. gold and 2.73 million contained oz. silver. This year, Premier plans to drill 45,000 metres from surface and underground. One of the primary exploration targets at Mercedes is the Marianas zone because it makes up the down-plunge extension of the main Mercedes mine trend. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.