Hochschild Mining Share Discussion Threads

[sotolo] 23/9/2020 08:47

interesting Juju in a falling market with the charts saying on down, however Hoc is holding up surprisingly well.... so far....maybe partly because of the 1/3rd fall we have already had since August despite mine restarts, or maybe because so far miners in general do not quite believe this fall is continuing....yet?

[risa5] 22/9/2020 21:01

Hochschild Mining (HCHDF) Presents At Gold Forum Americas – Slideshow

Sep. 21, 2020 5:55 PM ET

The following slide deck was published by Hochschild Mining plc in conjunction with this event.

[risa5] 22/9/2020 20:50

Hochschild Mining presses reset on Peruvian operations

September 22, 2020

Hochschild Mining (LON: HOC) recently resumed production at full capacity at its biggest gold-silver mine in Peru, Inmaculada, following months of disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The precious metals miner said it has implemented a series of measures to deal with a potential second wave of covid-19 at all of its operations to avoid major issues.

Speaking to MINING.COM, chief executive Ignacio Bustamante said Hochschild employees now follow a stricter set of health protocols than those mandated by authorities in Peru an Argentina, including a “double covid-19 testing” program.

THE PRECIOUS METALS MINER SAID IT EXPECTS VOLATILITY IN THE GOLD AND SILVER MARKETS TO LINGER THIS YEAR

“As a company, we have been aiming to focus on prioritizing the health of our employees above business continuity,” Bustamante said. “We have also backed up these protocols with an ongoing communication campaign and a bespoke IT system to monitor the progress of cases amongst our employees and to facilitate shift-changes in a covid-secure manner.”

Hochschild was forced to shut its flagship Inmaculada and its other Peruvian mine, Pallancata, from mid-March to mid-May as the country went into a strict lockdown. It reopened but was then forced to halt work at Inmaculada again in July after a number of workers tested positive for covid-19. The company was finally able to resume operations at full tilt on September 7.

Restrictions on the movement of people in Argentina, however, remain in place, but Hochschild expects to reach full production by the fourth quarter.

The company has already felt the impact of the closures on production. Before the pandemic, it expected to mine 36 million ounces of silver equivalent or 422,000 ounces of gold. It now targets 24 million to 25 million ounces of silver equivalent this year and 280,000-290,000 of gold equivalent.

“We have issued a realistic revised forecast range but if we do see further stoppages due to the virus we might need to revise those figures,” Bustamante said, adding that the situation in both countries remained “delicate.”

Ahead with exploration

Hochschild is moving forward with its largest ever brownfield program, which includes over 200,000 metres of drilling. It’s focused on a number of precious metal targets in Peru and Argentina, close to its existing operations.

The goal, Bustamante said, is to increase the life-of-mine of the company’s mines, improve the quality of its resources and fill up the spare plant capacity it has.

Hochschild is also carrying out drilling at early stage projects including Crespo and Arcata in Peru, as well at other projects or former mines such as Condor, Corina and Ares.

HOCHSCHILD IS EXECUTING A $9 MILLION GREENFIELD EXPLORATION PROGRAM, WITH TARGETS IN THE US, MEXICO AND CANADA

The miner, which participated in the 2020 Denver Gold Forum Americas conference this week, is also executing a $9 million greenfield exploration program, with targets in the US, Mexico and Canada. Those include the SNIP project in British Columbia, being advanced by Skeena Resources, and in which Hochschild has an option on.

The company has ventured into a new market, with its BioLantanidos rare earths project in Chile, which is expected to reach the feasibility stage early next year.

“We believe that this ionic clay deposit (a type that is very rare outside of China) has the potential to be one of the lowest cost sources of high demand rare earths globally,” Bustamante said. “Ionic clay resources differ from the more common hard rock-based rare earth projects as the mineralization occurs close to the surface and does not require explosives.”

That kind of project doesn’t need tailings dams, as the clay undergoes a simple and environmentally-friendly desorbing process that uses no harmful chemicals to extract the rare earth oxide before the washed clay is simply returned to the pit, Bustamante noted.

Bustamante said the company still anticipates some volatility in silver prices and the market in general.

“We think that the strength of silver price is underpinned by the significant fiscal and monetary stimulus initiated by governments and central banks in response to the covid-19 crisis and a weakening of the US dollar,” he said.

Bustamante added there hasn’t been a significant supply response from silver or gold sectors yet. There are very few substantial primary silver projects close to production and many projects remain stuck in development or require significant financing, he noted.

Gold prices have climbed this year by about 28%, hitting a record high of above $2,000 an ounce in August. Silver has also been gaining, outperforming gold, and is up 50% to $24 an ounce.

[hector_p] 21/9/2020 17:58

First majestic also down around 10% after all silver is down 8%

[juju44] 21/9/2020 16:53

Went long silver and gold

[sotolo] 21/9/2020 12:22

Yes, Hoc much harder hit, compared to others like Fres. Checked with Hoc this morning and nothing new their ways of getting profits from San Jose, new controls are on private individual.

[d3009] 21/9/2020 11:11

Been looking for the reason Sotolo, could well be just collateral damage from the market drop in general, HOC never seems to come out well when the FTSE 250 has a significant drop.

[sotolo] 21/9/2020 09:09

Any ideas on the cause of this morning’s fall. Is it the Sunday papers on many companies now pulling out of Argentina because of exchange controls and hefty tax on exporting capital, and dire economy, but this has been known. San Jose makes up getting on for 40% of output and 25% of profits (higher cost than Inmaculada) I think, so being unable to get dividends out would be a blow, but a known blow and how much does it apply to us. Hoc PR said a year ago they had dealt with similar in Argentina before, tho this time with Covid may be even worse?

[risa5] 20/9/2020 15:24

The Top 10: Bad losers

[risa5] 20/9/2020 14:45

Besides Trump is a bad loser, he is either victorious or victimized, but never a loser!

[stevea171] 20/9/2020 07:19

September 18 – Dr. Stephen Leeb:
“What happens if the election is disputed?
What happens if there is a fight over the Supreme Court? I don’t care what it is, if it leads to US chaos what does that mean for the dollar? It means it’s going a lot lower. And it means this shift to a new reserve currency will probably happen sooner rather than later. And during the chaos you’ve got to own gold…

[risa5] 19/9/2020 00:08

Alianza Minerals (TSX-V: ANZ) - Corporate Overview March 2020



Jason Weber outlines Alianza's main projects in Yukon and Nevada and their upcoming exploration programs for 2020.

[risa5] 18/9/2020 23:49

ALIANZA ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL RESULTS FROM HORSETHIEF GOLD PROPERTY, NEVADA

Sep 17, 2020 | 2020 News

Analytical results for final four holes expected mid-October 2020

Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: ANZ, OTC: TARSF) (“Alianza” or the “Company”) reports results from holes 4, 5 and 6 of the 10 hole 2020 reverse-circulation (“RC”) drilling program at the Horsethief Gold Property, Nevada. This work is funded by partner Hochschild Mining (US), a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining PLC (“Hochschild”, LSE:HOC) under an option to earn a 60% interest in the project by funding exploration expenditures of US$5 million over 5.5 years. Six of ten widely-spaced holes (totalling 2,804 metres), testing five target areas over 3.5 square kilometres have now been reported, with the remaining four holes expected to be released in October.

Gold assays have been received for holes 20HT-004, 005 and 006. These three holes continue to confirm the presence of favorable host stratigraphy, alteration, and/or anomalous gold mineralization at the Horsethief South (20HT-004 and 005) and the Mustang (20HT-006) targets. Hole 20HT-004 was collared on the west flank of the Horsethief South target in what appears now to be a fault-block of limestone and dolostone. Very little alteration or oxidization was noted and no anomalous gold results were returned. Hole 20HT-005 was collared in the northern portion of the Horsethief South target, drilled at -45 degrees to the southeast. The bottom of the hole intersected 85.3 metres of altered and oxidized limestone and dolostone prior to the hole being terminated in a void at 183 metres. The section is anomalous in gold and appeared to be strengthening with depth. The strongest intercept of 3 metres of 0.141 g/t Au occurs within 20 metres of the end of the hole.

Hole 20HT-006 was collared in volcanic rocks at the Mustang Target, which lies at depth where it was postulated that the prospective carbonate rocks may lie unconformably beneath younger volcanic rocks. This hole confirmed this relationship, intersecting limestone at a depth of 233.2 metres. From 289.6 metres to the end of the hole at 367.3 metres (totalling 77.7 metres), anomalous gold values occur within limestone and siltstone that is altered with patchy weak decalcification and silicification, and mineralized with zones of disseminated pyrite and weak oxidation.

The remaining 4 holes explore untested targets in the Thoroughbred (20HT-010), Mustang (20HT-008) and the recently identified Stallion target (20HT-007, 20HT-009). All of the remaining holes intersected altered and oxidized carbonate stratigraphy confirming the continuity of the prospective stratigraphy east of the main carbonate window.

“The first six holes at Horsethief have demonstrated the presence of alteration and mineralization features typical of productive gold mineralizing systems over a broad area,” stated Jason Weber, President and CEO of Alianza Minerals. “We are encouraged by the size of the mineralizing system and confirmation of gold mineralization in carbonates beneath younger volcanic cover but have only intersected anomalous gold values to date. The four remaining holes all tested further, under-evaluated parts of the system particularly at the Stallion and Thoroughbred targets.”

Multi-element geochemical results are pending and gold results from the remaining holes are not expected until October.

A map of the drill hole collar locations is shown below and can be found on the Company’s website.





Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Alianza employs rigorous QAQC processes in the evaluation of all analytical drill program results. Drill program samples are shipped directly in sealed bags and crates to Bureau Veritas laboratories in Reno, Nevada (ISO 9001 Certification). Samples shipped include primary drill samples and inserted CRM, blank and field duplicate samples. Laboratory pulp splits are generated during sample preparation. Fire assays are performed at the Reno, NV, laboratory; multielement ICP analyses are performed on pulp splits shipped to the Bureau Veritas laboratories in Vancouver, British Columbia. Referee analyses are performed on a subset of the samples by an ISO 9001 certified laboratory once all analytical data from the program has been received.

Horsethief Property

Horsethief is located 16 miles (25 km) east of the historic mining town of Pioche, NV. Drilling at Horsethief follows a very successful 2019 program that included detailed mapping focussed on lithology, structure and alteration of the prospective limestone and dolostone stratigraphy exposed at Horsethief. Significantly, based on lithological characteristics and fossil identification, this work confidently assigned stratigraphic ages ranging from upper Cambrian to lower Ordovician. This is an important age determination as it corresponds to the ages of rocks hosting other major deposits such as the Long Canyon Gold Mine.

Additionally, the 2019 work program identified a new window of upper Cambrian to lower Ordovician-aged carbonate stratigraphy with significant jasperoid alteration in the northeast portion of the property. An additional 26 claims were staked to cover this occurrence as well as prospective stratigraphy identified in the southern portion of the property.

Horsethief hosts five primary drill targets; four target areas defined by surface exposures of altered carbonate rocks and one target at depth, interpreted from induced polarization (IP) and resistivity geophysical surveys.

About Alianza Minerals Ltd.

Alianza employs a hybrid business model of joint venture funding and self-funded projects to maximize opportunity for exploration success. The Company currently has gold, silver and base metal projects in Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Nevada, Colorado and Peru. Alianza currently has two projects optioned out in Nevada and Yukon Territory, and is actively exploring on two others. Alianza’s current partners include Hochschild Mining PLC and Coeur Mining, Inc.

The Company has 109.7 million shares issued and outstanding and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “ANZ” and trades on the OTC market in the US under the symbol TARSF.

Mr. Jason Weber, P.Geo., President and CEO of Alianza Minerals Ltd. is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Weber supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this release.

[ifthecapfits] 18/9/2020 15:14

A most welcome rise today. Looking strong.

[petebreeze37] 18/9/2020 14:34

Good spot rathkum,I was watching the rise today which wasn't following the spot gold movement today.
They have found 0.141 g/t au but could be far more when explored further.
On Google I got this result for average/good grams per ton
""According to the World Gold Council, larger and better-quality underground mines contain around 8 to 10 g/t gold, while marginal underground mines average around 4 to 6 g/t gold. Open-pit mines .""..

[rathkum] 18/9/2020 14:09

Is that why the share uptick

[hector_p] 14/9/2020 09:53

PM's may well break out again between now and the middle of next week. Note September expiry for conracts is next Friday , not the following one.

Steve, very good post about the rare earths potential. It should be very supportive.

[breaktwister] 11/9/2020 11:30

I am, but I put my money where I see value Steve.

[stevea171] 11/9/2020 10:54

I thought from some of your posts you were quite frustrated with HOC?

[breaktwister] 11/9/2020 09:47

This is my largest holding but I am adding at these prices, buying all dips. I would have loved to top up earlier in the week when it dipped under 225 but a funds transfer had not been credited in time. Down 3% this morning was a gift to top up.

[stevea171] 10/9/2020 18:58

Gold $1956. Consolidation back to the previous ath around $1920. A move back above $2000 expected in due course as printing continues out of hand devaluing the $.

Silver $27.00. Up $8 in the past 2 months and holding these gains in this minor down turn. This is THE beginning of the mega move all silver bugs here have been waiting years for. Consolidation before taking out $30 and then higher. Recently out shining gold at very long last!

Gold has taken out it's ath set in 2011 and moved above $2000 but silver is still way below its ath of c.$50 set in 1980 and 2011.

[sotolo] 09/9/2020 08:36

Thanks for this Steve. Let’s hope rare earth prices don’t crash again in 2023, as happened to this gentleman with Molycorp.

On Hoc exploration have you had time to have a thought? My worry remains that with short mine lives the all important ddevelopment of reserves, rather than inferred, or implied, or indicated is getting more and more expensive. And this years production was down nearly 20% before Covid!! (Which has far greater impact on profit as means higher aisc as costs spread around fewer ounces)

We are so chasing new discoveries, to keep production from falling further, that Capex is over $100m turning profit to loss, certainly this year I guess; so should they just book these costs to the P&L and capitalize nothing? Ie should establishing reserves be treated as a current cost exercise. Then our PE would be much higher? And will we keep finding metal at mineable costs, especially if PM prices fall back, ie are we becoming a high cost PM and rare earth miner? Steve I would love your thoughts, or anyone else too. Thanks

[sotolo] 09/9/2020 08:34

Thanks for this Steve. Let’s hope rare earth prices don’t crash again in 2023, as happened to this gentleman with Molycorp.

On Hoc exploration have you had time to have a thought? My worry remains that with short mine lives the all important ddevelopment of reserves, rather than inferred, or implied, or indicated is getting more and more expensive. And this years production was down nearly 20% before Covid!! (Which has far greater impact on profit as means higher aisc as costs spread around fewer ounces)

We are so chasing new discoveries, to keep production from falling further, that Capex is over $100m turning profit to loss, certainly this year I guess; so should they just book these costs to the P&L and capitalize nothing? Ie should establishing reserves be treated as a current cost exercise. Then our PE would be much higher? And will we keep finding metal at mineable costs, especially if PM prices fall back, ie are we becoming a high cost PM and rare earth miner? Steve I would love your thoughts, or anyone else too. Thanks

[stevea171] 09/9/2020 07:50

"We initially aim to start production by the end of 2022 or early 2023."

Q&A: Biolantanidos targets HRE production in 2022-23
Published date: 24 June 2020. By Caroline Messecar

There is increasing interest in the growth potential of heavy rare earth prices and potential suppliers as the world's largest rare earth producer, China, now relies on imports of heavy rare earth ore after closing down its depleted and polluting mining operations. And the rest of the world is dependent on China's capacity to process and separate the ore into the heavy rare earth oxides crucial to the magnets that will power the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

Last October, gold producer Hochschild, which has large mining operations in the Americas, diversified into rare earths by acquiring the outstanding 93.6pc of the Biolantanidos heavy rare earth ionic clays deposit in Chile from investment fund Minera Activa. Argus spoke with the recently appointed chief executive, Rodrigo Ceballos, about project developments and some of the challenges specific to the rare earth industry.

Q. Since the announcement that Hochschild increased its stake in Biolantanidos to 100pc, we have heard little about the project beyond a commitment to submit a revised feasibility study in 2021.

A. When Hochschild bought the project, they said the key is to fully understand the resource and its potential recovery efficiency. And this is what we have been doing. We are working on a definitive feasibility study (DFS) that will be released in the fist quarter of next year. We have done extensive exploration and consolidated all the mining property. We have also made good progress in engineering and built a great team of professionals.

Maybe there has been more work and achievements than communications, despite the fact that Biolantanidos is one of the few feasible, fully funded, western-hemisphere heavy rare earth projects. I personally joined the company because of its strong commitment to deliver the project to the highest standards, both internally (process efficiency) and externally (environment, communities).

Q. Hochschild is specialised in the underground mining of precious metals, but Biolantanidos is an open-pit project. What kind of technical challenges do you envisage?

A. Hochschild's experience is tremendously valuable in the development of our project. With its extensive knowledge and network, it has identified the best experts in the field. Since the start, we have worked with specialists from the public and private sectors, institutions including the University of Concepcion, University of Chile and the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo), in addition to top-tier professionals in Canada and Germany, among others. We are laying the foundations for the rare earth industry in Chile and contributing to its development in Latin America. The biggest technical challenge for the project is actually related not to the type of mining but to process optimisation.

Q. Can you explain what you mean by process optimisation?

A. This project is unusual because it is a heavy rare earth ionic clay deposit. There is not much experience outside of China of ionic clay mining. Ionic clays have a much easier mineralogy than hard rock deposits. They have a simpler structure so you need far less complex processes to get to, extract and concentrate the minerals. For example, we do not need to do any crushing, milling or cracking [acid and alkali treatment]. This, of course, makes it cheaper and economically stronger. But there is a trade-off. There is always a trade-off. The ore grade [mineral percentage by weight] is lower compared with other types of deposits, like carbonatites and hydrothermal veins. So you need to be efficient, and you need to be very precise. It is important to mention that the process we are using is extremely environmentally friendly. The main reactant we use for extracting the minerals is a commonly used fertilizer, water consumption is very low and the process has a high degree of recirculation. The technology is proprietary. A pilot plant was built and successfully operated by the previous owners.

Q. What do you see as the biggest challenge that is specific to rare earths?

A. We see a strong demand outlook for dysprosium and terbium in the medium and long term, driven by the electrification of the transportation sector and growth in renewable energy. But there does not seem to be a relevant group of rare earth projects coming to production soon. It is clear that the magnet sector has a lot of growth potential. But what is specific, I would say to the rare earth industry, is that price volatility — which at times has been intense — is not only driven by regular supply-and-demand fundamentals but by government policies — ie, duties, import/export bans, production quotas — which are all hard to predict. Therefore, a project needs to have a basket composition in which the prices are high enough and the cost structure low enough to shield against price turbulence caused by factors outside the industry.

Q. When do you expect to start production? Who do you see as your customer?

A. We initially aim to start production by the end of 2022 or early 2023. Although a base case could be to sell this output to China, which today is basically the only country with the commercial capacity to separate heavy rare earths. But we definitely see ourselves as a supply source for the rest of the world. We firmly believe there will be increasing demand for [heavy rare earth] dysprosium, terbium, [light rare earth] neodymium and praseodymium products in the west as key industries further develop. The global need to diversify supply has grown. We have seen US and European initiatives to secure new sources and additional rare earth oxide separation capabilities. In this scenario, Biolantanidos is a competitive and sustainable alternative.

Q. Tell us about your background. This is not your first involvement in rare earths.

A. I am an industrial and mining engineer. I spent many years working in refractory metals, molybdenum and rhenium and was involved in the launch of the molybdenum contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) as a member of the minor metals committee. Through my work at molybdenum producer Molymet, I participated in the investment in 2012 by molybdenum producer Molymet in rare earths producer Molycorp [a massive project that ultimately failed when prices crashed]. So I had an interesting and tough exposure to a very significant project in terms of capex and extremely challenging both technically and financially, during one of the most volatile periods in the industry's history