|
 |  |
 |   | | Introduction
The Topia Silver-Lead-Zinc property is located in the heart of the Topia Mining District in west-central Durango State, Mexico. The property is accessible by road from the city of Durango by traveling north for approximately 200 km on paved Highway 23, and west for 150 km on a paved and gravel road to the town of Topia. The town is presently served by daily small-aircraft flights to the city of Culiacán, which lies 100 km to the southwest. Topia is the principal centre for the area with schools, shops, a small hospital, and public telephone and internet access. The property consists of four discrete blocks of mineral exploitation concessions covering 6,438 hectares. The concessions are 100%-owned by Great Panther's Mexican subsidiary, Minera Mexicana El Rosario, SA de CV (MMR).
Historical Production The Topia Mining District is one of the oldest in Mexico, the discovery of silver dating back to 1538. Artisanal mining continued for centuries until the Topia Silver Mine was opened in 1952 by Minera Mexicana Peñoles, now Mexico's largest silver producer. Peñoles built a 200 tonne per day mill on site and operated the mine continuously until 1989. A private company continued production on a small scale until 1999. Total historical production for the district has been estimated at 30 million ounces of silver. The recorded production for 1952-1999 exceeds 15 million ounces of silver, as well as 18,500 ounces of gold, 48,000 tonnes of lead and 44,500 tonnes of zinc. The on-site mill complex treated the ore and produced lead and zinc concentrates that were shipped to the Peñoles smelter in Torreon. Records for Peñoles' 38 years of production indicate average mill head grades of 437 g/t silver, 0.87 g/t gold, 3.9% lead and 4.2% zinc. Overall average metal recoveries were silver-86%, gold-55%, lead-94% and zinc-85%. Resource Estimate The 2009 mineral resource estimate, delivered by Wardrop in June, comprises Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources of 173,103 tonnes at 552g/t silver, 0.99g/t gold, 5.58% lead and 4.83% zinc (5,458,218 silver equivalent ounces) as well as 174,562 tonnes of 633g/t silver, 1.03g/t gold, 5.10% lead and 3.84% zinc (5,692,957 silver equivalent ounces) in the Inferred category. At current production levels, management considers the new resource to be sufficient for at least a 10 year mine life. The 2009 mineral resource estimate provides an update for the Argentina vein only, while the estimate delivered by Wardrop in 2006 for some of the other veins on the property came largely from the verification of resources defined by Peñoles.These resources are still intact as mining to date by Great Panther has come from new mine development. The new total contained metal for each resource category is shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Contained Metal (all veins):
At the current production rate of approximately 30,000 tonnes per year, and considering that not all resources may be mined, management expects the resources above to support a mine life at Topia of at least 10 more years(i.e. to 2020). The Company plans to continue the systematic replacement of annual production with new resources. This "rolling resource" is typical for underground mines as it is often not cost-effective to define a large resource/reserve in advance of mining. Production The most recent production figures (for Q2, 2010) again show a substantial increase over the previous year- 19% higher than in Q2 2009. Total production in Q2 2010 was 205,350 Ag eq oz which came from milling 9,176 tonnes of ore. Head grades remain high at Topia, averaging 446g/t Ag, 0.76g/t Au, 3.39% Pb and 4.22 Zn for the quarter. Plant performance continues to improve. Metal recoveries for silver, lead and zinc were the highest recorded by the company, (Ag-92.4%, Au-82.9%, Pb-95.4%, Zn-92.2%) In addition to processing 9,176 tonnes from the Company's mines, 2,513 tonnes were custom milled for a local miner, thereby increasing revenue and keeping unit costs down. Ore was mined from twelve separate small mines. Production from the San Gregorio and El Rosario veins contributed one third of the silver production and new development on both veins will ensure further improved production in 2010. Production from the Argentina vein will also increase as accelerated development and stoping are facilitated by the addition of new mobile equipment. A new drill program is being conducted to extend the mining potential of known veins and explore other veins. The acquisition of the 94-hectare La Prieta concession in the Topia District was a strategic move that should lead to additional production later this year, once drilling has been completed and a mine plan put in place. La Prieta is within easy trucking distance of the Topia plant. Mineralization Mineralization within the Topia Mine is that of a typical silver-lead-zinc epithermal vein system, formed along a series of northeast trending faults within the Tertiary-aged Lower Series Volcanics. The mined vein horizon consists of quartz, galena, sphalerite and pyrite and lesser amounts of arsenopyrite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, silver-rich sulphosalts, electrum, muscovite and carbonates. At Topia, the historically mined ore-grade or "productive" veins are confined to a limited vertical extent of 200 to 300 metres, but can extend laterally along strike for as much as 4 kilometres. This productive vein horizon grades downward into barren coarse-grained quartz, and upwards into barren, cherty, quartz-calcite-barite. Historically, the three most prolific veins on the property were the Veta Madre, Argentina and Cantarranas. The Topia District contains multiple veins, most of which lie on the Great Panther property. Recent Exploration Prior to exercising the option agreement, Great Panther conducted a 30-hole (7,437-metre) diamond drilling program that tested five separate areas on the property. Three of these areas; Las Trancas, Don Benito and Hormiguera; represent portions of the same vein that extends for more than four kilometres across the property. The two other areas represent parallel vein systems approximately one kilometre to the northwest (Argentina) and two kilometres to the southeast (El Rosario). Several other veins are known on the property and have yet to be drilled. Since acquiring the property MMR staff has been continually re-assessing the Topia mine and resampling the veins to confirm that the resource blocks outlined by Penoles are viable targets. A comprehensive surface and underground drill program, ongoing since July 2006, has targeted potential resource blocks and explored several veins which have had little or no previous exploitation. Data from approximately 90 of these drill holes were used in preparing the August 2009 43-101 report by Wardrop Engineering. The company has subsequently drilled a further 150+ underground and surface holes, the most recent drilling focusing on the Hormiguera area in the northeast of the property, San Gregorio and El Rosario area to the southeast, and the newly acquired La Prieta claim to the south. A table summarizing the 2010 drill results can be found --HERE.-- Management Management of the Topia Mine Project is by Ing. Javier Ramirez Vargas, General Manager of the Topia Mine. Robert Brown is the Qualified Person responsible for all technical information obtained and reported on. Presentations Topia Crushing Plant (Windows Media, 5.9 Mb) Topia Mill & Flotation Circuits (Windows Media, 2.7 Mb)
Photo Gallery | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
