San Bartolomé (Bolivia) – One of the World’s Largest Pure Silver Mines
Coeur’s new San Bartolomé mine in Potosi, Bolivia, is one of the world’s newest and largest pure silver mines. In 2009 – its first full year of production – the mine is expected to produce approximately 8 million ounces of silver at the beginning of its expected 14 year mine life.
The mine lies at the base of the famous Cerro Rico Mountain near Potosi, a town of 200,000 people at an elevation of 14,000 feet in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia. The current 135 million ounces of silver reserves are hosted in gravel deposits at the base of the mountain which lend themselves to simple, free-digging surface mining techniques that can be extracted without drilling and blasting.
Coeur Manquiri has forged strong relationships with the Bolivian State Mining Company (COMIBOL) and with the local mining cooperatives, which lease the mining concessions for San Bartolomé and provide much of the workforce. Coeur has become and integral part of the community of Potosi by helping re-establish cultural institutions, supporting concerts and art contests for local artisans, funding civic beautification projects
• Silver production during the third quarter was 2.1 million ounces with cash operating costs of $7.63 per ounce, representing the third consecutive quarter of consistent production and operating costs during this initial full year of operations.
• Silver production through the first nine months of 2009 reached 6.1 million ounces with cash operating costs of $7.24 per ounce.
• The mine plan has been temporarily adjusted while temporary suspension of mining above 4,400 meters is in effect as stability studies of the Cerro Rico Mountain are undertaken by COMIBOL. The potential impact of the revised mine plan in the fourth quarter may be up to 500,000 ounces. Meanwhile, mining continues on the remainder of the property.
• Cerro Rico Mountain is an historic mining site that is the subject of centuries of unregulated underground mining by numerous groups and individuals. The Company does not use explosives in its surface-only mining activities and is sensitive to the preservation of the mountain under its contracts with the state-owned mining entity and the local cooperatives, which are supported by Supreme Decree.
| Stage | Production |
| Location | Potosi, Bolivia |
| Type | Open Pit – Gravel deposits |
| Metals Produced | Silver |
| Product | Silver Doré |
- Mine producing at design capacity
- Estimated 9 million ounces of production in 2009
- • 14 year mine life
