Mexico-focused Sierra Madre Gold & Silver (TSXV: SM; US-OTC: SMDRF) could restart the Del Toro operation within about a year if silver prices stay firm while pushing ahead with a June expansion at La Guitarra that would lift mill throughput by about half.
The company is buying Del Toro from First Majestic Silver (TSX: FR; NYSE: AG) for up to $60 million (C$84 million). The property, which is far larger than La Guitarra, would give Sierra Madre a second production base in Mexico. First Majestic spent about $175 million building the Zacatecas asset, which has three underground mines, more than 60 km of development and a 3,000-tonne-per-day flotation plant. Sierra Madre has pegged a restart budget at about $10 million and plans 30,000 metres of drilling there.
“At today’s prices, it might make a lot of sense to turn it on earlier,” CEO Alex Langer said of Del Toro last month in an interview.
At La Guitarra, which entered commercial production in January 2025, Sierra Madre has installed a new cone crusher, is refurbishing a fourth ball mill and is building a paste backfill plant to raise capacity to 750-800 tonnes per day from 500. A second expansion is to lift throughput to 1,200-1,500 tonnes per day by the third quarter of 2027 and require a new 5.8-million-tonne dry-stack tailings facility.
Watch the full interview below with The Northern Miner’s Western Editor, Henry Lazenby:
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