Atacocha
Mine
Zinc, Lead, Silver and Gold
Type
Open Pit and Underground Mine
Plant Capacity
4.5 ktpd
Ownership
83.48% (1)
Location
Peru
¹The ownership percentage is attributable to Nexa Resources.
Atacocha is a polymetallic underground and open pit polymetallic mine, wholly owned by Nexa Resources Atacocha S.A.A. (formerly Compañía Minera Atacocha), located in the district of San Francisco de Asís de Yarusyacán, in the province of Pasco, Peru.
Operations began in 1938 and, in 2022, the Atacocha mine produced approximately 9.6 thousand tonnes of zinc contained in concentrates, 11.2 thousand tonnes of lead contained in concentrates, 1,155.0 thousand ounces of silver contained in concentrates and 13.6 thousand ounces of gold contained in concentrates. The ore is treated at a concentrate plant that has a processing capacity of 4.5 thousand tonnes of ore per day. In 2020, in response to COVID-19 and the uncertain macroeconomic scenario and our efforts to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency, we decided to not resume the higher-cost Atacocha underground mine after the mandatory temporary suspension of our operations in Peru and placed it under care and maintenance, which it remains to date.
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treated ore | kt | 1,354 | 1,271 | 1,065 |
| Grade | ||||
| Zinc | % | 0.89 | 0.88 | 1.20 |
| Copper | % | – | – | 0.05 |
| Lead | % | 0.97 | 0.82 | 1.15 |
| Silver | oz/t | 1.05 | 1.01 | 1.39 |
| Gold | oz/t | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Production | metal contained | ||||
| Zinc | kt | 9.6 | 8.5 | 9.6 |
| Copper | kt | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Lead | kt | 11.2 | 8.7 | 10.2 |
| Silver | MMoz | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Gold | oz | 13.6 | 11.9 | 6.3 |
| Cash Cost, net of by-product credits | US$/t | (1,566.2) | (557.7) | 17.8 |
| Cash Cost, net of by-product credits | US$/lb | (0.71) | (0.25) | 0.00 |
| CAPEX | US$ mm | 4.5 | 11.6 | 15.3 |
In 2022, we spent approximately US$0.3 million on the Atacocha brownfield project for exploration project maintenance. In 2022, we had no drilling activities at Atacocha. We have budgeted US$0.3 million for the project during 2023 for project maintenance and data interpretations, not including any drilling campaigns.
Atacocha does not currently have any estimated Mineral Reserves and is considered an exploration stage property under S-K 1300. Atacocha is not considered a material property for the purposes of S-K 1300.
