Silver Mountain Resources Produces First Concentrates at Peru's Reliquias Mine in September 2026

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Silver Mountain Resources announced that its Reliquias underground silver polymetallic mine, located in the Castrovirreyna mining district of the Huancavelica region in Peru, has produced its first batch of bulk concentrate and zinc concentrate, marking the project's transition from the development stage to the production ramp-up stage. The first concentrates were produced in mid-September, with the first shipment scheduled to begin in October.

The restart of operations at Reliquias relies primarily on the Caudalosa processing plant and existing permitted infrastructure. The company launched industrial testing of the processing system in July, when plant renovations were approximately 95% complete, the crushing system had been commissioned, and the grinding and flotation circuits had completed major no-load testing. Following the production of the first concentrates, the processing plant will continue to increase throughput and feed grade, with the company targeting a processing capacity of 800 tonnes per day in the second half of 2027.

Underground mine development and ore stockpiling have built up approximately 45,000 tonnes of stockpiled ore, which can directly supply feedstock for the current production ramp-up. Silver Mountain disclosed in January that approximately 1,500 meters of underground linear development had been completed; by April, the company reported cumulative underground development exceeding 3,000 meters and held over US$30 million in funds to complete the mine restart and processing system rehabilitation.

A 2024 preliminary economic assessment shows that Reliquias uses underground mining, with a planned mine life of 9 years, cumulative mining of approximately 2.4 million tonnes, and average annual production of approximately 2.2 million ounces of silver equivalent. The project's initial capital expenditure is approximately US$24.8 million, of which approximately US$21.5 million is for underground development and US$2.1 million for processing plant rehabilitation; life-of-mine sustaining capital is approximately US$32.3 million.

Reliquias currently has measured and indicated resources of approximately 1.275 million tonnes at average grades of 4.34 oz/t silver, 0.42 g/t gold, 3.14% zinc, 2.06% lead, and 0.33% copper; in addition, there are approximately 1.706 million tonnes of inferred resources. The company plans to update its mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Silver Mountain's production decision is still based on the preliminary economic assessment rather than a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. The company explicitly discloses that approximately 57% of the resources in the existing PEA are inferred resources, and therefore its current focus remains on completing the production ramp-up, increasing feed grade, and verifying actual processing capacity.