We are a Colorado-based gold-silver junior producer, with one operating mine in Mexico and a pipeline of development and exploration projects in Mexico, Argentina and Nevada. We transitioned from exploration firm to gold-silver producer in January 2021 when we began production at the Rodeo open pit gold mine in Durango State, Mexico. Rodeo’s mining operations broke even in the first quarter of production and have been producing positive cash flow since. Separately, we are continuing work in support of ultimately making a production restart decision at our Velardeña Properties, working through a modified mine plan and alternative mining methods in order to counteract excess dilution we observed from one of the veins in test mining conducted earlier in 2022. We expect to have testing completed by February or March 2023.
Golden Minerals Company offers investors leverage to gold and silver prices. We hold independently-prepared Technical Report Summaries (SEC S-K 1300-compliant) and Preliminary Economic Assessments (NI 43-101-compliant) on four of our precious metals projects that total over $195M in net present value (including Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources). Our operating Rodeo gold mine generates cash that supports our exploration and development work at other projects. We began gold production at Rodeo in January 2021 and currently estimate this mine will operate profitably until the third quarter 2023, at which point we will have a stockpile of lower grade material that may be produced thereafter, depending on market conditions.
We are currently working through a modified mine plan and mining methods at the Velardeña silver-gold underground mines, with the goal of mitigating excess dilution that was observed from one of the veins in our 1H2022 test mining. Once completed, we anticipate making a production restart decision in 2023.
We hold a number of exploration projects in our pipeline, including several which have shown potential through drill results to date: the Sarita Este gold prospect in Argentina, the Yoquivo gold-silver project in Mexico, and the El Quevar silver project in Argentina (currently farmed out to Barrick; Barrick has reported interesting initial drill results in its search for gold on the property).