VANCOUVER, June 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ – Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) (TSX: PAAS)
(the “Company”) today announces that the security situation on the
access roads to the Dolores mine has improved following increased patrol
and enforcement by the Mexican authorities.
We know this. Police have been running heavily armed convoys through the zone.
As a result, road transport
of diesel fuel, cement and other supplies to the mine has now resumed.
Strange that they didn’t previously tell us they’d stopped. But so far at least the La Linea narco gangs have not engaged the convoys and trucks have got through.
The Company will increase the use of its private, secured airstrip to
transport people to and from the mine site until the situation
normalizes.
A nice bit of legalese here. In fact the company has been running 20 light aircraft flights per day to get workers out of Dolores. I suppose that the pilot flying back in counts as “to the mine” as well, but the traffic in reality has been one-way. Hundreds of workers flown out, with the next batch due to leave in the second half of this month. that’s when they plan to ship out heavy machinery, too.
Due to the suspension of personnel transport
on the access roads and reduced staffing levels, in late May the Company
curtailed certain activities, including underground and open pit mining
and leach pad expansion.
Production of silver and gold continues at
normal rates due to the large reserve of high and low grade ore
stockpiles, which are feeding the pulp agglomeration plant and partial
operation of the crushing plant. The heap leaching and Merrill Crowe
circuits continue to operate normally. At this time, the Company does
not expect a material impact to its annual production guidance for 2018.
“We would like to express our gratitude to the Federal and Chihuahua State authorities in Mexico
for their support and rapid deployment of resources to secure the
access roads to our Dolores mine, and we will continue to work closely
with them as we move forward,” said Michael Steinmann, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.