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Fresnillo PLC on Tuesday reported that it is currently conducting ‘extensive’ tests at its Juanicipio mine in Mexico, due to requirements from a local regulator, but does not expect this to hurt its annual guidance.
The Mexico City-based silver and gold miner said it completed all activities for the final tie-in to the electrical grid at Juanicipio.
Nonetheless, the state-owned electricity regulator Comision Federal de Electricidad, required the FTSE 100 company to conduct additional testing to verify the compatibility between new and updated substation equipment, prior to the final tie-in of the electrical grid.
Further, specialised start-up protocols and operations controls may need to be implemented during the initial mill start-up to prevent local power fluctuations, Fresnillo said.
Fresnillo stated that it does not see ‘any impediment’ to the successful conclusion of the tie-in, based on the testing work already undertaken.
The company expects the power for final commissioning and the start of operations to be available by the end of October.
It plans to make available any unused plant capacity at the Fresnillo and Saucito operations to process material produced at Juanicipio during this period.
Thus, the current testing process will not hurt its full-year production guidance or its expected production outlook from Juanicipio in 2023 and beyond, it stated.
‘Safety has always been at the core of our activities and we fully understand the prudent approach taken by the electricity regulator. Juanicipio is our next major growth project, the ninth new mine we have successfully constructed since we listed in London in 2008. Juanicipio will make a material contribution to our production from 2023 and we look forward to its successful commissioning in the fourth quarter,’ Chief Executive Officer Octavio Alvidrez said.
Fresnillo shares were trading 2.3% higher at 769.46 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
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