Golden Minerals sells Mexico mines in shift to Argentina

Golden Minerals (NYSE-A: AUMN, TSX: AUMN) announced on Friday it has sold its primary assets in Mexico comprising the Velardeña properties in Durango state that it briefly brought back to production.

The sale included the Velardeña and Chicago underground mines, both of the company’s oxide and sulfide processing plants and related equipment, Golden said. Total consideration is US$5.5 million cash, plus value-added tax. The buyer is a privately held company based in Mexico.

“We are pleased to have negotiated this cash sale for the Velardeña assets in such a timely manner,” Golden Minerals CEO Warren Rehn said in a release. “The sale will enable us to divest of our production assets and related liabilities in Mexico and allow us to focus on exploration and development, principally of our Argentina assets.”

In December, Golden Minerals brought the Velardeña mines back into production and had hoped to generate positive cash flow in the first half of this year. However, just two months later, it stopped mining due to underperformance.

Case settled

In addition to the asset sale, Golden has also settled a court case with Unifin Financiera for US$250,000. Last year, the Mexican financier launched a lawsuit against the company for payments owed on certain drilling equipment. It was seeking recovery of as much as US$12.5 million.

The company currently owns all of the El Quevar project in Argentina’s Salta province. This 56.7-sq.-km. property was explored between 2004 and 2012, and was recently the subject of an earn-in agreement with Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD).

A 2018 preliminary assessment on El Quevar outlined the potential for a six-year mining operation producing 29 million oz. of payable silver at an average grade of 409 gams per tonne. The PEA held estimates of a US$45 million net present value at a 5% discount rate using a silver price of US$16.66 per ounce.

In addition to El Quevar, Golden also has an option to acquire 51% of the Sarita Este project, also in Salta province. It is an exploration-stage gold-silver-copper project situated near First Quantum’s (TSX: FM) Taca Taca project.

Shares in Golden Minerals closed nearly 3% higher on Friday in Toronto at 76¢ apiece, valuing the company at $8.2 million. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of 34¢ to $7.38.