Warrior. Minera Media Luna, a subsidiary of Canada’s Torex Gold, will invest 848 million dollars between today and the next three years, for the construction and start-up of the new deposit that will begin to exploit in Guerrero.
Jody Kuzenko, CEO of Torex Gold, specified that the capital allocated to the Media Luna deposit, from which it intends to extract mainly gold, will allow Torex Gold to extend the life of the mine until at least 2033.
“It will be one of the largest underground operations built in Mexico and it is estimated that with this investment the life of the mine will triple.”
This investment will be used to enable all the underground infrastructure -such as a seven kilometer tunnel that will run under the Balsas River- for the movement of ore. This will be done through a conveyor belt and a new flotation circuit.
The Media Luna underground deposit was discovered in 2012 and is part of the 29,000 hectares in the hands of the mining company, which is called the Morelos Complex.
In addition to this mine, Torex Gold began in 2013 the construction of El Limón Guajes, a complex made up of three open pits, an underground mine and a processing plant with a capacity of 13,000 tons per day, with gold recoveries of 87%.
El Limón Guajes and Media Luna will be connected through the tunnel that will pass under the Balsas River.
“Media Luna is going to be one of the largest underground mining operations built in the country… It is important to mention that for our exploration budget this year, we are talking about 40 million dollars, and our plan to continue investing in drilling continues” Kuzenko asserted in front of Tatiana Clouthier, Secretary of the Economy, and Evelyn Salgado, Governor of Guerrero.
Faysal Rodríguez, Senior Vice President of Torex Gold Mexico, explained that the current state administration “contributes” to continue laying the foundations for investment, by generating synergies between the government, private initiative and localities.
Production and jobs
Torex Gold, an intermediate gold producer, has an annual projection of commercializing 450,000 ounces of gold extracted from the entire Morelos Complex until 2027, when its processing plant operates at full capacity.
The miner, which as of 2020 became the second largest gold producer in Mexico, has a workforce of more than 1,000 direct employees and approximately 1,700 contractors. Of its total workforce, it estimates that 60% is originally from Guerrero.
Once the Media Luna deposit comes into operation , 600 direct jobs will be created, while 1,200 contractors are contemplated in the construction process.
According to the Council of Industrial and Business Chambers of Guerrero, the entity has a mining production that generates just over 10,000 direct jobs and 40,000 direct jobs.
