Atacocha

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.

Location

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.

Overview

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
Geology and Exploration

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.