Construction work on Silver Standard’s Pirquitas silver/tin/zinc mine project in Argentina is due to commence in the third quarter of this year, with mill start-up planned for the fourth quarter of 2008.
In its latest quarterly report, Silver Standard said that by the end of March this year it has spent US$10.7 million out of an initially committed $31.5 million on site infrastructure.
Total capital costs of the project were estimated at $146 million in April 2006, but are likely to have escalated significantly since then. On the other hand current market prices are well above the assumptions used in the feasibility study.
The project is to be an open pit operation producing some 6,000 tpd of ore over a nine year mine life. Annual production capacities are some 9 Moz silver, 2,500 tpy tin and 6,600 tpy zinc.
Plans for the project will be re-evaluated at the end of initial engineering work in the third quarter.
