Location Durango State, Mexico
Land Area 1,866 hectares
Property Description Gold-silver open pit mine located 80km (115km by road) from Velardeña
Metals Gold and silver
Ownership 100% owned; 2 claims
Project Stage Operating
Current Activities & Work Operating
Permitting Complete and current
Rodeo is a 1,866-hectare gold project located in Durango State, Mexico approximately 80 kilometers (115 km via road) west of the Company's Velardeña Properties and processing mills. We began gold & silver production at Rodeo in January 2021. We are transporting the material via truck to our oxide mill at Velardeña for processing, where in April 2021 we installed a second regrind mill used in the production process given the harder characteristics of Rodeo's mined material. Processing began at a rate of approximately 200 tonnes per day in January, then reached the 450 tonnes per day production throughput goal in late April 2021 when we commissioned a second ball mill. The company announced a first pour of gold-silver doré bars on schedule at the end of January 2021.
Rodeo is a small but profitable mining operation that has generated over $48M in revenue and $18M in net operating margin through December 31, 2022. We estimate operations will continue through mid-2023, at which point we will have a stockpile of low-grade material that could be processed thereafter, depending on metals prices and anticipated processing costs.
2022 Technical Report Summary
In March 2022, the independent firm of Tetra Tech completed a Technical Report Summary ("TRS") for the Rodeo project. The purpose of the report is to summarize the results of an Initial Assessment for the property as defined under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation S-K 1300. This is the first TRS prepared for the Project under S-K 1300 guidelines.
The Rodeo mine is currently in operation and the Rodeo TRS assumes a life of mine (“LOM”) starting point of November 1, 2021. The TRS assumes prices of $1,800/ounce (“oz”) gold (“Au”) and $25.00/oz silver (“Ag”). Mineral resources were calculated having an effective date of October 31, 2021 with a cutoff grade of 1.6 grams per tonne (“g/t”) for processing and 1.0 g/t for stockpiling.
Required capital costs for the Rodeo mine consist of an estimated $0.4 million for closure and reclamation. No additional capital is required at the mine. No capital costs are estimated for Plant 2 for the life of the Project. Estimated operating costs are shown below.
The LOM (life of mine) consists of 24 months of operation and assumes 12 months to perform closure and reclamation. The starting point for the LOM is November 1, 2021. The pre-tax net present value (“NPV”) of the project is $22.9 million using a discount rate of 8%. Royalties are calculated at 2% for La Cuesta and 0.5% for the Mexico precious metals royalty.
Rodeo is located two kilometers east of the town of Rodeo in Durango State, Mexico and is accessed by a short stretch of unpaved road from the Nazas-Rodeo highway. Basic amenities are available in the town of Rodeo. The property is located approximately 80 kilometers west of our Velardeña Properties -- within trucking distance of the oxide mill at Velardeña.
We own the Rodeo and Rodeo 2 claims covering 1,866 hectares of land located 80 kilometers west of our Velardeña Properties in Durango State, Mexico. Golden acquired the Rodeo property subject to a royalty interest (due to La Cuesta International) in 2015.
The Rodeo concessions lie on the eastern boundary of the Sierra Madre Occidental, a dissected volcanic plateau elongated in a NNW direction. It is approximately 1,200 km long with an average altitude of approximately 2,000 m above sea level. The geology of the Sierra Madre Occidental is divided into two principal volcanic groups:
The formation of these volcanic complexes can be related to late Mesozoic and Tertiary subduction processes along the Middle America Trench. The dominant structural event affecting these rocks, particularly the Upper Volcanic Supergroup, is a tensional one, possibly coeval with the spreading episode which was opening the Gulf of California to the Northwest. This event led to the formation of a complex of normal faults within and on the margins of the volcanics. Displacements on these faults is never very great, particularly on the eastern margin of the Sierra Madre Occidental but tilting of structural blocks was extensive. Wedges of coarse clastic rocks now fill the associated half grabens. A number of these faults have been the loci of possible late-stage volcanic alteration/silicification/mineralization events which are the targets for exploration efforts.
The immediate Rodeo deposit area is approximately 300 m along strike and 200 m wide and extends to a depth of 200 m below surface. The deposit strikes at 330° and dips to the ENE with various vein phases dipping from sub-vertical to 30°. The deposit is entirely hosted within Tertiary Rodeo volcanics, which are strongly silicified and brecciated. The deposit is bound to the east by the Rodeo Fault, however drilling to date has not demonstrated that the deposit reaches or is truncated by the fault. Along strike to the north and south, the mineralization is offset slightly by near vertical faulting; mineralization does not terminate at these faults, but the intensity of the trend is either diminished or has yet to be located.
Mineralization at the deposit is epithermal low-sulfidation (quartz-adularia) type. Although very little mineralization is hosted in or centered on the Rodeo Fault itself, it is likely the fault played a role as a pathway at depth for the Rodeo deposit. Quartz veins 15 m or greater in width have been located throughout the property. The high-grade Au mineralization appears limited to a distinctive veining event. Evidence of ancillary veining events pre- and post-dating the high-grade event carry low-grade to anomalous level of Au mineralization.
Final Drill Results, reported November 10, 2021
Rodeo 2020 Drill Program: Final Drill Results, reported October 1, 2020
Rodeo 2016 Drilling Results, reported September 1, 2016
Tetra Tech, Rodeo Project, Technical Report Summary. March 2022. Prepared under SEC S-K 1300 guidelines.
Mineral Resources Engineering, NI 43-101 Technical Report: Preliminary Economic Assessment, Rodeo Project, April 1, 2020. Prepared under Canadian NI 43-101 guidelines.
Tetra Tech, NI 43-101 Technical Report - Mineral Resource Estimate, Jan. 26, 2017. Prepared under Canadian NI 43-101 guidelines.