By John Waters, Publisher
Owner of the delay-plagued Shafter Silver Mine in Presidio County Aurcana Corporation has announced it has suspended operation of the mine and the mine’s mill for the remainder of 2013.
The suspension is pending the arrival of new equipment. As a result of the suspension of mill operations, the company has laid off non-essential employees.
According to the company, “In the course of the next 90 days, the Shafter Mine will continue to implement a number of improvements to its mill and processing plant, while key replacement components are received and installed.”
Aurcana has also made sweeping changes in management of both the corporation and the mine. In late September, Aurcana hired a new Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Kaczmarek. Several days later the company announced the departure of Dr. Sadek El Alfy, Vice President of Operations.
More recently, Aurcana terminated the employment of the general manager at Shafter and several other management employees at Shafter.
David Drips, a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines has been named as the new general manager of the mine. Nils Von Fersen has resigned as Vice President; Exploration and Paul Matysek has resigned from the Board of Directors. Both will continue a relationship with Aurcana as consultants.Bob Pepper has been hired to increase recovery at the mine.
Catalin Chiloflischi, Director of Corporate Communications at Aurcana in Vancouver, told the Gazette after the new COO was hired that a “very serious review of management at Shafter” was undertaken, and as a result of the review, the personnel changes at Shafter were made.
Chiloflischi said the changes at the mine were necessary and, “with the delays at Shafter, we can’t afford any more [delays]. We need to be at full production in 2014.”
On October 21, Aurcana announced Third Quarter Production Results that highlighted the production from the La Negra mine in Mexico that increased four percent. No production results from Shafter were mentioned in the release. To date, the mine has only generated about $2 million from its silver production.
Chiloflischi affirmed rumors that the ball mill at Shafter is down, but noted that would not materially affect the company. “It’s not like we were producing a lot of silver at Shafter.”
Chiloflischi said the changes at Shafter would allow the company to move forward with improvements that will allow it to reach full production next year. New management coupled with the recent $50 million cash infusion marks, according to Chiloflischi, “a time of changes, all for the better, at Shafter.”
In February 2011 Aurcana had a groundbreaking ceremony at the Shafter Mine and said the mine was scheduled to be producing in mid-2012.
The company now says production may begin in mid-2014. Aurcana will continue to perform maintenance work at Shafter to deduce downtime in the coming months according to a statement from Aurcana.
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