Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Torex Gold (TSX: TXG) saw its stock value jump to a new 52-week high on Friday after posting a record gold production of 474,035 oz. during 2022., exceeding its guidance range of 430,000 to 470,000 oz. This marks the fourth year in a row for which the company’s original production guidance has been achieved.
Torex currently operates the 100% owned Morelos property, covering an area of 29,000 hectares in the Guerrero gold belt of Mexico. The property hosts the El Limón Guajes (ELG) mine complex, which started commercial production in 2016, as well as the Media Luna deposit, an advanced-stage development project located 7 km from ELG.
“We delivered an outstanding year operationally in 2022, surpassing production guidance and achieving record gold production of 474,000 oz.,” CEO Jody Kuzenko said in a news release. During the year, the company sold 473,122 oz. of gold, including 121,913 oz. in the fourth quarter.
Kuzenko attributed the “excellent operational performance” in 2022 to the record annual throughput in the mill of 12,600 tonnes per day and record annual contribution from the ELG underground complex.
Gold production in the fourth quarter totalled 116,196 oz., supported by strong gold grades to the mill. This was in part owing to the ELG team delivering a new quarterly record mining rate of 1,685 t/d, which exceeded the previous record of 1,582 t/d set during Q2 2022.
Torex also made steady progress at the Media Luna project during the quarter, with key engineering and procurement activities advancing. Record development rates were achieved in the Guajes tunnel during December with an average advance rate of 7.2 metres per day.
“With total development at 3,250 metres in the Guajes tunnel at year-end, the tunnelling team has now successfully crossed under the Balsas River and continues to be on pace for breakthrough in early 2024, if not before,” Kuzenko said.
“We are well positioned to deliver another solid year operationally in 2023 as we look to maintain the steady performance in the mill, increase underground mining rates to 1,800 tonnes per day by year-end,” he added.
Shares of Torex Gold ended Friday’s session 3.3% higher, valuing the intermediate gold producer at approximately C$1.6 billion ($1.2bn).
