Endeavour Silver considers M&A after Terronera
Endeavour Silver’s Terronera silver mine construction project in Jalisco, Mexico is 30% complete through June, with the project on time and on budget, chief executive Dan Dickson told Mining Journal at the 2023 Precious Metals Summit in Beaver Creek, Colorado, USA.
The company has committed US$145 million of the $230 million capital investment and expects to begin drawing down the first tranche of its project financing in January 2024.
"We got moving early on key aspects, such as the plant and mobile fleet, locking in prices before inflation hit. The earthworks and camp started before we made a formal construction approval, which are things that can cause time delays. This allowed us to hit the ground running," said Dickson.
The Terronera underground mine will allow for 2000tpd of material to be extracted. The company is aiming to advance development on three fronts, with a target of advancing each face by 3.5m per day.
"Our procurement is mainly completed, so we have eliminated the logistics risk," said Dickson.
Terronera will be Endeavour's third silver mine in Mexico. It also has other Mexico assets in its portfolio, including Pitarrilla, which is likely to be its next development once Terronera is completed.
"There are some really good valuations out there in the juniors, but how do we best allocate our cash; building our assets or taking full or partial ownership in other assets?. We think our development pipeline is the best in the space. We want to add another asset but given where we are [with the Terronera build] this is moot for the next six to nine months," Endeavour Silver chief executive Dan Dickson told Mining Journal.
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