Magna Gold Corporation

Mexico’s Next MidTier Gold Producer

PROJECT

DIRECTED BY

Gary Smith

Amandip Singh, VP of Corporate Development, Magna

Mexico’s Next MidTier Gold Producer

Magna is a Canadian mining company that acquires, explores, develops and operates mining properties in Mexico, with a focus on precious metals. Its primary asset is the San Francisco Gold Mine in Sonora but the company is also exploring several other projects.

WRITTEN

BY

Romana Moares

The company is committed to advancing its 100% owned flagship San Francisco Mine and other highly prospective mineral properties located in Sonora and in Chihuahua. The aim is to become a multi-mine precious metals producer, and to develop substantial gold and silver mineral resources on its properties.

Magna’s team of highly experienced mining professionals is the company’s primary strength as the key catalyst for a proven track record in the development of properties in Mexico, from discovery to production, within budget and on time.

Driven by expertise

“People in our industry are key, the personalities are important, we have a phenomenal group of people in Magna,” says Amandip Singh, the company’s Vice President of Corporate Development.

“With a great team, with intimate knowledge of the asset, we managed to bring the mine into production on schedule. In fact, 1st June last year, my first day in the company, was actually the day we declared commercial production. Our next 12 month run rate is about 70,000 ounces, at very favourable cash costs of just under $1,250-1,350 an ounce. Bringing a dead mine into full commercial production over such a short period of time is remarkable, and could only be achieved with the best team possible.”

He himself is a geologist and mining professional with close to 15 years of experience in the mining industry, finance and academia. Prior to joining Magna Gold in June 2021, he was the Vice President, Corporate Development for Aurelius Minerals and Director, Corporate Development for GT Gold Corp.

Bringing a

dead mine into full commercial

production over such a short period of time is remarkable, and could only be achieved with the best team possible. “ “

Mr Singh was part of the management team that saw the Saddle North Cu-Au porphyry advance from discovery to eventual acquisition by Newmont Mining in a transaction valued at $311M. As a finance professional, Mr Singh was a sellside mining analyst at a boutique mining-focused brokerage, his coverage ranging from developers all the way up to senior producers.

Speaking about his varied background before joining the company just a year ago, he says: “The combination of technical and financial knowl-

edge provides one with a well-rounded perspective on the business, I believe. I’m effectively the banker and analyst, except I only have one client and that client is the company I work for.”

He further affirms that being in Mexico, a mining-friendly jurisdiction with a long mining history, has been a great advantage. “We are operating in Sonora which is effectively the mining state of Mexico, with a large concentration of mining companies, suppliers, contractors and drilling companies. This means that availability of local skilled labour has been great.”

Resources Feature

Advancing the assets

The San Francisco mine commenced operations in 2010 and has produced over 820,000 ounces of gold. The mine is situated in the north central portion of the state of Sonora, Mexico, approximately 150 kilometres north of the state capital city of Hermosillo. The project is comprised of two previously mined open pits (San Francisco and La Chicharra), together with heap leach processing facilities, and associated infrastructure located close to the San Francisco pit. Currently, the leach pads are on a residual leach cycle with no mining being conducted. Magna restarted mining and processing operations during Q3 2020.

The company today produces 70,000 to 80,000 ounce per year, a remarkable outcome achieved over a short period of time, says Mr Singh. “We have been a company for just over three years now. We went public, we made our acquisition just over a year ago of the San Francisco mine, a mine that at that time had considerable challenges and prob lems. The mine was effectively dead, even beyond care and maintenance. Last year, we managed not only to re-establish production but also ramp it up, so that production targets were actually exceeded.”

Work also continues on the development of the Margarita project, an exploration proper ty within the Sierra Madre Occidental province. Precious and base metals are the target com modities sought at Margarita and the property exhibits textures and alteration consistent with epithermal systems, typical of important dis coveries in the region.

Within the Margarita Silver Project, the first phases of exploration drilling were completed in 2021. Resource definition drilling is anticipated to be completed by mid-February for inclusion in the resource estimate. The exploration programme and deep targeting are to continue, and results so far have been encouraging. The company is cur rently on schedule to release its maiden resource estimate, which will lead to a Preliminary Eco nomic Assessment (PEA) by the end of Q1 2022.

MINING CONTRACTOR

Magna Gold Resources Feature

Transformative year

It is not all just about profits, though. “Environmental, social and corporate governance is a fundamental pillar of what we do. We are operating within an eco-system that involves not just the environment and sustainability but also a real community, the human element,” says Mr Singh.

“We have been very involved with the local communities, we make sure from day one that all stakeholders are well aligned and have a constant dialogue going on. In this way, we manage to navigate a lot of the challenges that the industry faces, simply by being proactive.”

The fact that Magna takes ESG very seriously has been demonstrated by various awards the company has collected, including the Social Responsible Company Award and the Inclusive Company Award.

Mr Singh affirms that prospects look good. “In 2023, we would like to be at 200,000 ounces plus of production with 5 million ounces of resource and reserves. We can get to about 100,000 ounces at our current San Francisco project and we are very actively pursuing new opportunities. Sending an asset with a troubled history into commercial production on schedule, on budget, is a sign that we can deliver on our promises.”

Concluding, he affirms that Magna Gold is a true success story. The management expects 2022 to be a transformative year for Magna, as it looks to generate meaningful cash flow, increase production at its operation and continue its aggressive growth plans through both organic and M&A driven initiatives.

www.magnagoldcorp.com

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Sending an asset with a troubled history into commercial production on schedule, on budget, is a sign that we can deliver on our promises. “ “