CURRENTLY OPERATIONAL
ANTIMONY OXIDE OR SULFIDE SMELTER, MADERO, COAHUILA, MEXICO
The Madero antimony smelter and precious metal processing facility at Estacion Madero, in the Municipio of Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila, Mexico, is included in our antimony segment.
Construction started on the property in 2009. The property is about 16 acres with seventeen small rotating furnaces (“SRF’s”) and four large rotating furnaces (“LRF”) with an associated stack and scrubbers.
The Madero antimony production is sold as antimony metal or antimony low-grade oxide. In 2019, we completed the installation of a caustic leach circuit to process antimony concentrates from our Puerto Blanco cyanide leach facility containing any precious metals from our Los Juarez property or other sources – both of which are not currently being operated.
Annual antimony finished goods production was 163,788 pounds of antimony metal in 2024, due to the facility being shut down in March of 2024. The Madero facility and operation was upgraded and re-commissioned in January 2025, due to the dramatic increase in demand for antimony processing and the difference in cost metrics with increased commodity pricing.
This property is about halfway between Torreon and Saltilo, both in the state of Coahila on state highway 40, and is accessible by truck. Electricity is supplied by CFE, the socialized electricity provider in Mexico and provides adequate and fairly reliable power. Water is sourced from a well at the smelter. Personnel are sourced mainly from the nearby community of about 100 people.
HELD ASSETS IN MEXICO
Puerto Blanco Flotation Mill and Precious Metals Processing Facility in Guanajuato, Mexico
The Puerto Blanco facility in Guanajuato, Mexico is about 100 acres and is included in our antimony segment. Construction started on the property in 2010. The facility contains a flotation mil and oxide circuit that are used in increasing the concentration of antimony in ore and a cyanide leach circuit this is use in the processing of precious metals.
The flotation mil is not currently being operated but has been used in the past for the processing ore from the Company’s mine in Los Juarez (not currently active) and other unrelated third-party properties.
An oxide circuit was added to the plant in 2013 and 2014 to mil oxide ores from Los Juarez and other properties.
In 2019, a cyanide leach circuit for recovery of precious metals was built and permits were obtained for this circuit. This cyanide leach circuity is not yet in operation and has not been used.
Puerto Blanco had no processing in 2024 with its closure for most of 2024 and processed approximately 20,000 pounds of antimony ore in 2023.
The Puerto Blanco property is approximately 15 kms (about 9.32 mi) north of the city of San Jose Iturbide along state highway 57 in the state of Guanjuato, Mexico.