Vazante
Mine
Zinc, Lead and Silver
Type
Underground Mine
Plant Capacity
1.8 Mtpy
Ownership
100%
Location
Brasil
The Vazante mine is an underground and open pit, polymetallic mine located about 8.5 km from the municipality of Vazante, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The approximate coordinates of the mine are 17 57’ 33” S and a longitude of approximately 46° 49’ 42” W, within Zone 23S of the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system (Corrego Alegre Datum) at approximately 306,000m E and 8,016,000m N and the mine area has elevations ranging from 690 to 970 meters above sea level. Access from Brasilia is via federal highway BR‑040 toward Paracatu. Internal roadways connect the various mine‑site components. Concentrates are trucked about 250 km to the Três Marias smelter. The closest commercial airport is located in Brasilia. The Vazante municipal airport for light aircraft is adjacent to the mine site.
Operations began in 1969 and, in 2025, the Vazante mine produced approximately 128.4 thousand tonnes of zinc contained in concentrates, 0.9 thousand tonnes of lead contained in concentrates and 414.5 thousand ounces of silver contained in concentrates. The ore is treated at a concentrate plant that has a processing capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of ore per year.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treated ore | kt | 1,753 | 1,770 | 1,633 |
| Grade | ||||
| Zinc | % | 8.64 | 9.22 | 10.19 |
| Lead | % | 0.29 | 0.28 | 0.33 |
| Silver | oz/t | 0.60 | 0.63 | 0.67 |
| Production | metal contained | ||||
| Zinc | Kt | 128.4 | 140.7 | 145.7 |
| Copper | Kt | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.4 |
| Silver | MMoz | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Cash Cost, net of by-product credits | US$/t | 992.9 | 1,079.2 | 1,343.5 |
| Cash Cost, net of by-product credits | US$/lb | 0.45 | 0.49 | 0.61 |
| CAPEX | US$ mm | 26.0 | 27.6 | 31.6 |
The Vazante and Extremo Norte zinc deposits are epigenetic zinc silicate deposits, and Vazante is one of the largest deposits of its type worldwide. Mineralization exists within a sequence of pelitic carbonate rocks belonging to the Serra do Poço Verde formation of the Vazante group. The major structural control is the Vazante fault.
Mineral exploration activities in 2025 were focused on expanding mineralized zones near the existing operation, with the objective of extending the unit’s life of mine. Approximately 14.5 km of diamond drilling were completed across 23 drill holes, with two additional holes currently in progress and expected to be finalized in 2026. The drilling program combined exploratory drilling and extensions of known orebodies, such as Varginha, Lumiadeira, and Vazante Sul, while also advancing the conversion of inferred resources to indicated resources in the Conexão Sucuri Norte area.
