VANCOUVER (Commodity Online): Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS: NASDAQ:PAA:TSX) discovered 29.3 million ounces of new Proven and Probable Silver mineral reserves which more than replaced the 24.7 million contained ounces of silver that were mined during 2011.
Pan American, world's second largest primary silver producer, released the results of its exploration activities of 2011, that says it had Proven and Probable silver Mineral Reserves of 235.3 million contained ounces which is 2% increase from that of 2010.
La Colorada was one of the notable site where exploration drilling added 10.6 million new ounces of silver. It has the second largest Mineral reserve in the company's portfolio of assets, after Huaron mine which has 60.9 million ounces of silver in Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves.
At the Alamo Dorado mine, exploration work added 44.3 million ounces of new Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves, which will extend its mine life by one year.
The highlights of 2011 exploration campaign include the complete replacement of silver ounces mined during 2011 at Huaron,Quiruvilca and San Vicente. However, industry wide cost pressures and deterioration of concentrate sales terms impacted in some of the exploration activities.
Commenting on this year’s exploration results, Michael Steinmann, Executive Vice President Geology and Exploration said, “2011 was another exceptional year for our brownfield exploration programs, which not only replaced the silver ounces we mined, but also increased our Proven and Probable silver Reserves. Since 2004, our continued focus on mine-site exploration has generated substantial new value by adding over 198 million ounces of Proven and Probable silver Mineral Reserves, more than replacing the 165 million ounces we mined during the same period.”
In 2012 Pan American expects to invest $15.5 million to complete approximately 116,000 meters of diamond drilling at its seven operating mines. In addition, the Company also plans to spend $7.8 million on greenfield exploration activities at selected properties in Mexico, Peru and Argentina.
