The San Gonzalo Mine, currently on care and maintenance, is located approximately 2km North East from the original Avino mine and beneath the shallow workings of an old mine from the colonial period.
It constitutes a strongly developed vein system over 25m across, trending 300 to 325 degrees, dip 80NE to 77SW. The original underground workings extend over an area approximately 150m along strike and 136m in depth.
Produced over 6 Million ounces silver equivalent at an average all-in sustaining cash cost per AgEq for under US $10 over its 7 year mine life.
The San Gonzalo Mine was an underground operation that employed shrinkage stoping and cut-and-fill mining to extract mineralized material, which was then transported to surface and hauled 2 km to a processing plant. There, a 250-tonne-per-day flotation circuit produced a bulk concentrate containing silver, gold, lead, and zinc, which was shipped monthly from Manzanillo, Mexico. Beginning commercial production in 2012, the mine exceeded its five-year expected life by two years, generating over six million silver equivalent ounces at an average all-in sustaining cost of less than US$10 per ounce before operations wound down in late 2019. While production has ceased, San Gonzalo remains open for ongoing underground exploration.
2019 marked a turning point for Avino, as mining at San Gonzalo was wound down and ultimately halted in the fourth quarter.
The mine surpassed its planned lifespan, producing more than six million silver equivalent ounces at low costs.
Although mining ended, exploration continues at different underground levels to assess further opportunity.
*In Q4, 2019, AgEq was calculated using metals prices of $17.32 oz Ag, $1,482 oz Au and $2.67lb Cu. In Q4, 2018, AgEq was calculated using metals prices of $15.71 oz Ag, $1,270 oz Au and $2.96lb Cu. Calculated figures may not add up due to rounding.
*In 2019, AgEq was calculated using metals prices of $16.20 oz Ag, $1,393 oz Au and $2.96lb Cu. In 2018, AgEq was calculated using metals prices of $15.71 oz Ag, $1,270 oz Au and $2.96lb Cu.
*For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company produced 958 and 20,412 AgEq oz, respectively, of zinc by-product concentrate which has been included in the “San Gonzalo” production category above
Resource Estimates In January 2021, Avino announced the results of an updated resource estimate for the Avino property, which was amended on December 20, 2021. The updated estimate includes the Property’s Avino Mine (Elena Tolosa (“ET”) vein systems, the San Gonzalo Mine, and the Property’s Oxide Tailings. The mineral resources estimate has been included in an updated technical report prepared by Tetra Tech Inc. under National Instrument 43-101 (“NI-43-101”), which will be available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under the Company’s profile and filed on Form 6-K with the SEC within 45 days.
Qualified Person Avino’s Mexican projects are under the supervision of Peter Latta, P.Eng, MBA, Avino’s VP Technical Services who is aqualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical data herein.
Under National Instrument 43-101, the Company is required to disclose that it has not based its production decisions on NI 43-101-compliant reserve estimates, preliminary economic assessments, or feasibility studies, and historically projects without such reports have increased uncertainty and risk of economic viability. The Company’s decision to place a mine into operation at levels intended by management, expand a mine, make other production-related decisions, or otherwise carry out mining and processing operations is largely based on internal non-public Company data, and on reports based on exploration and mining work by the Company and by geologists and engineers engaged by the Company. The results of this work are evident in the Company’s discovery of the San Gonzalo resource, and in the Company’s record of mineral production and financial returns since operations at levels intended by management commenced at the San Gonzalo Mine in 2012. This approach is being applied for the advancement of the Avino Mine project, for which similar risks and uncertainties have been identified.