Silber Companies - Liste und Neues

heron,
Exmin kann ich nicht einschätzen zur Zeit, ist jedenfalls schwierig.
Wenn sie Morris ganz zurückkriegen, ist das zwar gut, aber es kostet Geld.
Und die 19% von Hochschild, aber ich glaub, die wollen das nicht verkaufen. Wären sie auch blöd.
Außer sie wollen sioe noch mehr unter druck bringen.

First Majestic Zahlen.
Die schreiben auch 7 Mille Verlust, aber sind weiterhin sehr gut unterwegs.
Das Geld floss ja in die infrastruktur der Minen, die werden richtig aufgemotzt auf den neuesten Stand,
Also wird Value geschaffen.
Vor allem das 4. Qu stimmt zuversichtlich.
Keine größeren Aquiaitionen sind geplant, was heißt, weiter Ausbau vor allem von La Parilla, Keith´s "Baby".

Schön wär schon ein Gewinn gewesen, weil es ein Signal gewesen wäre......
Aber muss einfach kommen. Biiitteee warten, und das fällt schweeer.....

First Majestic Silver Corp.: 2007 Year End Financial Results
Thursday April 17, 3:09 pm ET
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 17, 2008 -- FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. (Toronto:FR.TO - News)(Other OTC:FRMSF.PK - News)(Frankfurt:FMV.F - News)(WKN: A0LHKJ) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the annual financial results for the Company's year ended December 31, 2007. The Company's prior annual audited results were for the six month transitional year ended December 31, 2006, as the Company changed its fiscal year in 2006. The full version of the financial statements can be viewed on the Company's web site at www.firstmajestic.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The following are highlights from the year end and fourth quarter. Shareholders or interested parties are encouraged to review the complete financial statements for further details.

Total Revenue for 2007 - $42.9 million
Total Revenue for 4th Quarter - $11.6 million
Mine Earnings (excluding amortization and depletion) $15.9 million
Mine Earnings for 4th Quarter (excluding amortization
and depletion) $5.3 million
Positive Operating Cash Flow for 2007 (before working
capital changes) $8.6 million
Total Equivalent Silver Production for 2007 3,561,171 ounces
Total Cash Costs per Silver Ounce for the year US$7.06
Total Mining Costs per Tonne for the year US$42.96
Cash in Treasury, currently $53 million

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND HIGHLIGHTS
- Sales revenues for the year were $42.9 million; an annualized increase of 68% compared to $12.8 million for the six month provisional year ended December 31, 2006.
- Mine earnings (excluding amortization and depreciation) for the year amounted to $15.9 million, compared to $1.7 million for the six month transitional year ended December 31, 2006.
- The Company generated cash flow from operating activities (before working capital changes) of $8.6 million for the year, compared to cash used in operations (before working capital changes) of $1.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2006.
- The Company currently has more than $53 million in its treasury, is generating significant cash flows from operations, and has sufficient capital to support its operating requirements for the foreseeable future provided it does not undertake any major acquisitions.
- Total annual production for 2007 consisted of 3,561,171 ounces of silver equivalents, including 3,170,139 ounces of silver, 2,049 ounces of gold, and 2,924,146 pounds of lead.
- The Company invested $18.9 million in capital expenditures on its mineral properties, a further $11.8 million on additions to plant and equipment, and an additional $4.9 million on acquisitions during 2007.
- Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2007, was $7,230,122 compared to $7,588,195 for the six month provisional year ended December 31, 2006 (the prior audited period), representing a 52% decrease from the annualized prior year's net loss. The net loss for the year included non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $3,865,689, and a write-down of a mineral property of $1,703,591.
- Sales revenues for the fourth quarter were $11,631,476, a 43% increase compared to $8,138,284 in the final quarter of 2006. Shipments in the final quarter of 2007 included 908,688 equivalent ounces of silver, an increase of 58% over the 574,547 equivalent ounces shipped in the final quarter of 2006.
- Net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, was $1,292,632 representing a 38% decrease from the third quarter's net loss of $2,070,082.
- Silver production in the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2007, has increased to 1,008,299 equivalent ounces of silver, an increase of 7.2% over the prior quarter's production of 940,225 equivalent ounces of silver, and increase of 75% over the 574,547 produced in the quarter ending December 31, 2006.
- Direct cash costs per ounce of silver for the year ended December 31, 2007, were US$7.06 per ounce, and for the quarter they were US$7.97 per ounce of silver, with the increase due to increases in energy costs, reagent costs, and increases in equipment maintenance costs. The Company has taken steps which are expected to positively impact cash costs throughout 2008.
Keith Neumeyer, President and CEO, commented, "First Majestic continued its strong growth in revenues and mine earnings during 2007. With our recent financing and cash flow generated from our mines we are in a positive position to continue our growth through 2008 and into 2009. We are continuing toward our goal of becoming a senior silver producer and I am assured that with continued performance like we have delivered in 2007 that we will continue to add value for our shareholders."
2008 Outlook
As the Company continues to grow, we will focus on expansion of our mills. In 2008, management at First Majestic will focus on executing our business plan by continuing the ongoing improvements at each mine and achieving our production and resource targets.
As a result of the work we completed in 2007, the additions to our management team, and the improvements made at each of our mines, we are targeting production of 5.5 million ounces of silver equivalent for 2008. We are very focused on the success of the company and improvements are expected to include: the completion of the flotation circuit at the San Martin, the replacement of the secondary crusher at the La Encantada, new filter presses at the La Parrilla, and we are currently reviewing expansion plans for our mining operations. We are in the third year of an equipment replacement program where 20 additional pieces of underground equipment are expected to be delivered and be operational this year. These deliveries include scoop-trams, underground trucks and jumbos. We expect this new equipment to provide more efficient underground operations.
First Majestic anticipates that silver, gold, and lead prices will continue to be volatile in 2008 but will continue their upward trends. We expect all three of our producing mines to deliver positive cash flows from production, and mine operating earnings during 2008.
First Majestic is a producing silver company focused in Mexico and is aggressively pursuing its business plan to become a senior silver producer through the development of its existing assets and the pursuit through acquisition of additional assets that contribute to achieving its corporate growth objectives.
FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP.
Keith Neumeyer, President & CEO

Tom Szabo zu First Majestic und Fortuna Silver: spricht irgendwie für sich.
Im Bericht von FR heißt es ja, keine größere Aquisition.
Oremex hatte auch die Streiigkeiten mit der mex Anrainergemeinde.....
Das letzte Update von oremex: http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/08041…_tejamen_update.html?.v=1

Okay, enough monetary B/S, I'd like to move on to some nuts and bolts. Or is it soup to nuts? Specifically, I would like to talk about a couple of silver producers that reported very good financial results yesterday. The first is First Majestic, one of my subjective favorite silver stocks, which has recently started to publicly emphasize its goal to become a senior silver producer. The latest operating results represent a solid step in that direction. Highlights include 3.1 million ounces of silver produced in 2007 (3.5 million ounces of silver equivalents, expected to grow to 5.5 million in 2008 and C$15.9 million in mine operating income excluding non-cash charges. With C$50 million in the bank and a fully-diluted market cap of C$375 million, this is pretty good but the valuation clearly relies on expansion of production in the future.

So far so good, but listen to this. The company raised over C$45 million in an offering last month, something that was not necessary if the plan were to simply continue developing its 3 existing mines. Its Chalchihuites or other projects certainly aren't ready for that kind of exploration money, either, which brings up the possibility that First Majestic is once again on the hunt for major property (or small company) acquisitions. Unfortunately, there aren't many properties remaining in Mexico so First Majestic will probably have to bite the bullet and by some company kit and kaboodle. Fortunately, this is something First Majestic's president Keith Neumeyer seems competent and comfortable doing, given his diverse investment, finance and operations background.

So, why don't we look around to see if there are any tasty targets that First Majestic could gobble up with its modest C$50 million war chest? Alas, the only one I could find is an unloved, downtrodden little company by the name of Oremex. Provocatively, Oremex has already sold a property to First Majestic during 2006 (in the La Parilla district) and still holds a small concession in the Chalchihuites camp where First Majestic has been poking around in an attempt to consolidate the district. Thus, the two sets of management likely have become well acquainted with each other already. Considering the paltry C$10 million fully-diluted market cap--despite the 50 million ounce inferred silver resource at the Tejamen open pit project--it's no wonder that Oremex recently adopted a shareholder rights plan. You see, if the surface rights negotiation at Tejamen can be concluded soon, the project might produce perhaps 3-4 million ounces of silver starting as early as 2011 or 2012. That production would be almost pure silver with minor gold credits, one of the few in the world this size (similar to Coeur's soon-to-be-shuttered Rochester Mine in Nevada). Given First Majestic's goal of becoming a senior silver producer and its largely unrecognized status as already having among the highest percentage of production from silver (which goes a long way to explain why the company is a subjective favorite of yours truly), Tejamen would fit in pretty well.

Now, please don't get me wrong, this is all pure speculation based solely on publicly available information and a bit of brain juice. Also, realize that Oremex is a risky stock as illustrated by the more than 50% decline in share price since I put it on my potential "Ten Bagger" list in late 2006 (does that make it a "Twenty Bagger" now?) But here is something to consider. Why not buy a share of Oremex for each share of First Majestic you buy or already own? That limits the risk in that you won't go crazy buying too much Oremex, and if it goes kaput you can mentally deduct the cost from your hopefully big profits in First Majestic. On the other hand, if Oremex gets bought out for a mere $25 million (not a remote prospect), you've made some respectable dough in a tough market regardless of what happens with the price of First Majestic. And if First Majestic does end up being the acquirer, it might not be a bad idea to roll the Oremex proceeds right back into First Majestic in order to leverage the presumably accretive results.

Alright, let me move on to the second "silver" producer (no, Oremex wasn't it). It is Fortuna Silver, and I put the silver in quotes because the silver component of its current operation, Caylloma in Peru, is actually 25% or less as a percentage of revenue. Still, the 2007 results were impressive for the first full year of operations, producing 0.5 million ounces of silver and approx. 10,000 tonnes combined of lead and zinc (roughly 2.5 million ounces total production on a silver equivalent basis). Of course, when silver is such a small component of the product mix, it doesn't make sense to report silver equivalents, and Fortuna management to its credit has refrained from the practice. I note this hasn't stopped some gurus like Jim Dines from picking Fortuna Silver as their top pick for "silver" producers expected to benefit from a near-term rise in the silver price. I'll get back to this in a second, but first I will note that Fortuna generated C$19.0 million in mine operating income excluding non-cash charges during 2007 as falling zinc prices were partially offset by rising lead prices. Fortuna also had around $50 million in cash at year-end (probably higher now) and a fully-diluted market cap of C$225 million as of today. The market cap compares favorably with First Majestic on the basis of mine operating income, and arguably if First Majestic is undervalued then Fortuna is even more so.

On the other hand, one possible reason why the market has assigned a fair and square lower value to Fortuna's 2007 operating metrics might be the mix of silver to base metal production: less than 25% silver for Fortuna whereas it's the reverse for First Majestic at more than 75%. Yet the base metal argument becomes less convincing when one realizes that Fortuna's current silver-poor ore mix is the result of a deliberate decision to mine the veins at widths that capture most of the lead-zinc (which is somewhat diffused) but substantially dilute the silver (which tends to occur in discrete bands). Caylloma has veins that are in fact very rich in silver: recent assays include 6,231g/t (around 200 ounces) of silver plus 10% combined lead, zinc and copper over an estimated true width of 1.5 meters. Such bonanza grade material is easily 80% or more silver by value and could be added to the production mix using selective mining methods without huge difficulty, though an increase in cost. If and when there is an improvement in the proportion of silver produced, this should transfer directly to the share price.

Another reason for the relatively low valuation might be that Fortuna is still recovering from the silly episode of frantic buying that briefly pushed the share price to almost $4 on the basis of the Dines recommendation last November. Beyond this, we may also want to consider that the Caylloma mill had approached functional capacity toward the end of 2007 with any future significant improvements being dependent on more electric grid power being made available to the mine. This creates uncertainties about production growth in 2008 and beyond while the company's other project, San Jose in Mexico, is still in pre-feasibility stage. Yet as I've stated above, silver production can theoretically be increased at Caylloma, even if mill capacity has been reached, by varying or mixing the mining method(s).

In addition, San Jose deserves some consideration as it has reasonable grades of silver-gold mineralization occurring over vein widths that might be amenable to bulk mining methods (essentially the same situation as Caylloma but with precious, not base, metals). Even so, the company has set just a modest target of 5.5 million ounces of silver equivalent production once both Caylloma and San Jose are humming along a few years down the road.

Given that First Majestic already has plans for the same production level this year and then to continue advancing from there, we can perhaps start to see where the relative values make sense. Along these lines, maybe the most compelling difference between the two companies is that, self-admittedly, First Majestic plans to be a senior producer while Fortuna has more modest goals of becoming a mid-tier producer. There is nothing wrong with either, and of course some mid-tier producers have larger market caps (Agnico-Eagle) than some seniors/majors (Gold Fields). In my own opinion, however, First Majestic is right now the better pick of the two as a junior silver producer especially for investors/speculators who believe silver prices will outperform base metals in the future. Conversely, if you think base metals, particularly lead and zinc, will do better, Fortuna Silver might be the better choice for you.

Putting my money and opinion where my mouth is, I already own First Majestic for the long haul, I don't own Fortuna currently but may consider it in the future (especially if I change my mind about silver and base metals, or Fortuna's mix of production starts to favor silver), and next week I will start buying Oremex to equal my First Majestic share position.

Hallo Zwyss,
ich hab zu den FR Zahlen am 18.4. kurz Stellung genommen.
FR ist heuer sooo richtig spannend. Heuer kommt´s zum Ritt, in welche Richtung es geht.
Zur Zeit wird alles erneuert und das kostet.
La Parilla wird auch spannend. Die tragen zwar relativ wenig oz zum Gesamtergebnis bei,
aber hier besteht sehr viel Explorationspotential.
Sie haben Abschreibungen und schulden sind auch noch da.....

Zu Szabo und Oremex: seine Idee eine oremex für eine FR zu kaufen, halt ich für eine Schnapsidee.
Eher 3:1. Wenn übernommen, haben wir ca ein 10:1 Verhältnis.

Hallo Milly,
stimme dir in vielem zu.
Noch besser als Optis wären wahrscheinlich CFD´s.
Bei "minen" sollte man aber schon ein bisserl unterscheiden. Producer, solche die nur 43 er machen, um dann zu verkaufen oder reine Explorer.
Und die sind das hauptproblem zur Zeit. Die oben genannte Yucon oder EXM, Garibaldi, UNO etc....
Da hab ich zur zeit zu viel für meinen Geschmack.
Aber übersehen ist auch verspielt.....

Silberminen halt ich zur zeit nicht für teuer.
Du musst eintrechnen, was für eine Mine, dass sie überhaupt läuft geld ausgegeben wird.
Vergleich es mal mit einer Limo Fabrik.
Da musst du auch zuerst alles hinstellen, bevor du die erste Flasche abfüllst..(doppelte bedeutung? )

Grüße
Tschonko

PS: In Paraquay haben wir nun auche einen linken Präsidenten.
Equador wird ja zur Zeit kräftig rasiert....

Exmin JV mit AmMex:
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080421/0388716.html

Hallo Zwyss,
interessante Einteilung.
Kannst du mir zu Punkt 1 nur ein Beispiel geben? Impact ausgenommen.

Zu Punkt 2: das war für mich der Grund FR zu kaufen, weil sie eben nicht von ganz vorne anfingen, sondern bestehende minen übernahmen.
Schau dir minefinders an. Die haben seit 10 jahren das werkl (finde hier den Namen "Minefinders" wirklich aussagekräftig!) von der Pike an aufgebaut.
Heuer startet Produktion. Was wurde da Geld "verbrannt"!

Milly,
ich respektiere deinen Ansatz, aber da hast du bei Minenaktien nichts verloren.....
Da würde dir meine größte position CNQ schon besser gefallen.

Hallo Heron,
ich seh es so wie du. Nur sind da noch einiges an Schulden. San Martin ist noch nicht abbezahlt.
Aber wenn die warrants heuer bedient werden, dürfte es sich ausgehen????
Was meinst du zum Oremex Verhältnis?

Grüße
Tschonko

Report zu Yale:
Howlett Research Corp. Publishes Research Report on Yale Resources Ltd.
Tuesday April 22, 7:00 am ET
VANCOUVER, BC--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 22, 2008 -- Howlett Research Corp. (www.howlett-research.com), a boutique research firm led by Jeff Howlett, President, announced today that it has recently published a research report on Yale Resources Ltd. ("Yale") (CDNX:YLL.V - News) (Other OTC:YRLLF.PK - News) (Frankfurt:YAB.F - News) (www.yaleresources.com).Over the past 1.5 years, Yale has assembled a portfolio of Mexican properties in world class mining districts. The large number of mineralized occurrences and small scale mining operations throughout their properties has dictated that a rigorous, systematic exploration program be followed. Over this time, literally thousands of samples have been collected and there have been several targets investigated by geophysics. This program has begun to bear fruit:

-- Drilling is now underway at two initial targets at Urique North,
-- Work at the past producer Verde Grande has resulted in a new geologic
interpretation, a significantly greater strike, and potential for new
processing methods (i.e., heap leach vs. traditional flotation),
-- The company continues at Urique South to prioritize the (now 7)
targets for later drilling,
-- At the Carol property, sampling over wide areas in two skarn zones has
yielded several high grade results -- further hand trenching indicates that
copper oxides occur in each trench over 6 - 22 m widths.
The full report can be found at http://www.howlett-research.co…h_Yale_Report_4-21-08.pdf.

Die Yukon shareholder kriegen halt so ca 20 cts , wenn ich richtig gerechnet habe.
Also trotz lukrativer Übernahme hat man hier mächtig draufzahlen können...

Noch mal zu FR.TO.
Sagt mir eine andere company die das in 2 Monaten durchzieht.
Kostete auch ein Mille. Gut angelegt.
Neues Level für den martin....

First Majestic Silver Corp.: Commissioning of Flotation Circuit at the San Martin Silver Mine
Tuesday April 22, 10:58 am ET
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 22, 2008 -- First Majestic Silver Corp. (Toronto:FR.TO - News)(Other OTC:FRMSF.PK - News)(Frankfurt:FMV.F - News)(WKN: A0LHKJ) is pleased to announce that it has completed the commissioning of a new flotation circuit at its San Martin Silver Mine in Jalisco Mexico. Historically, the San Martin mill, which has a capacity of 800 tonnes per day (tpd), has been processing oxide ores from the mine through a cyanidation plant to produce Dore bars. The addition of this 500 tpd flotation circuit will now allow the Company to take advantage of the extensive sulphide mineralization as defined in the Company's NI 43-101 report. The new combined plant at San Martin will now be capable of producing both Dore bars from oxides and lead and zinc concentrates from sulphides thereby optimizing the Company's silver production. The two circuits will be run on an alternating basis.
Construction of the new flotation circuit commenced in December 2007 and was completed in February 2008. Construction was completed in record time of only 8 weeks with a total investment of US$1.1 million.
The testing and final commissioning of the lead and zinc circuits took place in March and April and involved the systematic testing of all components, metallurgical and mechanical. This process was necessary to optimize the different parameters of the grade of concentrates and maximize recoveries of silver, lead and zinc. The first shipment of 160 tonnes of lead concentrate left the San Martin Silver Mine on March 28th and since then an additional 150 tonnes have been produced and is sitting in storage waiting to be shipped.
The ongoing aggressive development and exploration program is continuing for the purpose of increasing both the oxide and sulphide Resources within the mine. As a large component of the Company's present NI 43-101 Resources / Reserves is sulphide ore and readily available for mining, a decision was made to build this circuit to optimize this operation. The next step in the Company's expansion plan at the San Martin Silver Mine is to add additional crushing and grinding capacity. Engineering design work is under way as well as a full economic evaluation in order to improve the economics of the operation. It is anticipated that within approximately 30 days, the Company will announce the outcome of this evaluation and the Company's go ahead plan.
In addition to the mill expansion, a total of 7000 metres of underground development is planned and 29,600 metres of diamond drilling is scheduled for 2008. There are presently six drill rigs on site at San Martin. Five are operating, and one just arrived last week and will soon be in operation. Two additional rigs are scheduled to arrive within the next two weeks, bringing the total to eight drill rigs, four underground and four surface rigs. The result of this work will assist in increasing silver production going forward, and is expected to result in improved NI 43-101 compliant silver Resources. The Company anticipates the next NI 43-101 Report on the San Martin Silver Mine will be completed by July 2008. As a result of the addition of the flotation circuit, the sulphide Resources as defined in the Company's current 43-101 Report will also be upgraded.
First Majestic is a producing silver company focused in Mexico and is aggressively pursuing its business plan to become a senior silver producer through the development of its existing assets and the pursuit through acquisition of additional assets that contribute to achieving its corporate growth objectives.
FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP.
Keith Neumeyer, President & CEO

heron,
klar sind das Schmuftler (Oremex)
Ich hatte die noch nie gottseidank...
Nur FR könnte den Streit locker schlichten mit ihren Beziehungen.
50 bis 100% wären schon drin.
FR wird noch so ne billige Bude brauchen, wo man in ein zwei Jahren so an die 2 Mille oz rausbringen kann.
Oder sie holen es von Chalchuites (siehe fett markiert)

Bericht über FR
http://www.minesite.com/nc/min…dend-payer-in-2010/1.html
April 22, 2008
If Everything Continues To Go To Plan First Majestic Could Be A Dividend Payer in 2010

By Charles Wyatt

When Keith Neumeyer, chief executive of First Majestic Silver, was announcing record silver production for the last quarter of 2007, he may have reflected that he’d made a shrewd move leaving First Quantum back in 2000. This is the African-based copper producer, of which he was the original and founding president, and also instrumental in the acquisition of the Bwana Mkubwa mine in Zambia. Since then he has grown First Majestic to the stage where it produced just over a million ounces of silver equivalent (silver plus lead) in the last quarter of 2007, while First Quantum is forced to contemplate its navel as Zambia introduces its new tax regime on mining and the authorities in DRC are review all contracts with the state mining company. On top of this First Quantum has apparently disclosed that it is suing its investment adviser, HSBC Bank over asset-backed commercial paper – the polite term for sub-prime mortgage rubbish - in which it invested US$11.3 million on the advice of the bank in July 2007.
First Majestic has no such problems as it operates in Mexico which is mining friendly and has resisted any temptation to try to boost investment income. The company has three producing silver mines silver mines in Mexico - La Parrilla, San Martin and La Encantada - and has forecast that production from them will rise to 5.5 million ounces this year and that there will be a further significant increase next, and even more in 2010. And just to emphasize the fact that it has no sub-prime junk hanging round its neck the company has just raised C$45 million from a syndicate of brokers led by CIBC World Markets. Most of this money is going to be used to expand the mill capacities at the three producing mines, but some will be used on development work and exploration. It’s no wild guess to assume that these brokers would not have been involved in the fundraising if the company had already wasted some of its funds on poor investments.
The development work just mentioned is continuing at all three mines in order to provide access to new areas, so that mining can keep pace with production as the mill capacities are increased. Thus reserve and resource development are given priority and in January six rigs were working at La Parrilla, three at San Martin and one at La Encantada. More have been added since then, and the total is now seventeen which, Keith says, is the most of any junior to mid-tier company operating in Mexico. It is interesting to note that Blackmont Capital, one of the brokers involved in the recent fund raising, reckons that La Encantada is the jewel in First Majestic’s crown with its resources having recently doubled to 63.7 million ounces of silver. A number of improvements have been made to the mill over the past year which will ensure that recoveries improve.
Keith Neumeyer doesn’t miss many tricks, and he has also been carrying out evaluation and metallurgical testwork on the old tailings dams. The results indicate that a cyanide circuit would enhance the economics of the operation, and that it might be worth increasing throughput to 3,000 tonnes per day compared with the present 700 tonnes per day. Such a change would only cost $12 million and payback would be very quick. In fact Blackmont reckons that if these changes are made production from La Encantada could increase from an estimated 1.7 million ounces of silver this year to 4 million ounces in 2010.
It is a similar story at La Parrilla, where mill enhancements are already starting to pay off. A year ago a new primary and secondary crushing plant was acquired. A new 800 tonnes per day cyanidation/flotation mill was added shortly afterwards. The upgraded mill is now running close to capacity and it can process both oxide and sulphide silver ores in two parallel circuits. This should support an increase in production from 1.56 million ounces of silver this year to 1.91 million ounces in 2009. The mine has plenty of life left in it, even then. The total silver equivalent resource now stands at 74.1 million ounces, but the new tailings dam should add a further ten years to mine life.
All good news and the same goes for San Martin where an improved performance can be expected as a result of underground development and changes that have been undertaken at the mill. When we last wrote about the company we mentioned that it was the Mexican team under chief operating officer Ramon Davila that was key to First Majestic’s performance. Once the decision was taken at the end of last year to add a 500 tonnes per day flotation circuit in order to deal with the large sulphide resource, things moved fast. The components for this circuit were sourced and it was built by the team in two months at a cost of only $1 million. Difficult for anyone to beat that, as most of the steel parts were manufactured at the mine. A third ball mill is now ready for installation, and this should boost throughput from 1,000 to 1,200 tonnes per day next year with production rising to 1.84 million ounces.

Then come the Chalchuites claims which are only 60 kilometres to the southeast of La Parrilla and comprise a contiguous land package containing four previously operated mines - Perseverancia, San Juan, La Esmeralda and Magistral. Exploration at Perseverancia and San Juan has been encouraging and a new resource can be expected to come in in the 20 to 30 million ounce range. Once this is in the bag it looks like onwards and upwards to a single plant handling ore from both mines at a rate sufficient to produce up to two million ounces of silver a year with significant base metal credits.
Keith, speaking from Mexico, says that the only constraints on production for his company are the mills as he confidently expects to be announcing resources of 300 million ounces by the end of this year. Further improvements are therefore being carried out at the mills, and his personal target, not a forecast, is for First Majestic to produce 10 million ounces of silver equivalent in 2010. This would definitely warrant promotion to the mid–tier and justify the move from the Venture Exchange to a full Toronto listing earlier this year. At the back of his mind is the possibility of a dividend payment, but that would have to await confirmation of the earnings level if the production target is reached. Not many investors would be prepared to bet against Keith getting his way on this one.

Grüße
Tschonko

Milly,
"wer als erster einsteigt, wird ohnehin am meisten verwässert"
Muss man die so 5 bis 10 Jahre halten?
Die besten Gewinne waren die, wo ich wirklich bald dabei war.....