Operating Permit for El Peñón Processing Plant Confirmed
The good news continues from Altiplano Metals (TSXV APN / WKN A2JNFG). As the company announces today, the Chilean mining authority has now confirmed that the operating permit for the El Peñón processing plant is valid until September 2028. An application for further extension can then be submitted at a later date, closer to the end of the approved period. But that’s not all!
This allows Altiplano to continue processing up to 4,950 tons per month within the approved 42 months.
As the company also announced, 51.5 tons of copper and gold concentrate and 460 tons of iron concentrate were sold in February, derived from processing 1,341 tons of source material at El Peñón. This generated preliminary revenues of $125,460 USD last month, equivalent to approximately $180,000 CAD. In January, 55 tons of copper and gold concentrate and 800 tons of iron concentrate were sold, generating preliminary revenue of around $150,800 USD ($217,152 CAD).
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Altiplano sold 128 tons of copper and gold concentrate (72 tons in November, 56 tons in December). Iron concentrate production amounted to 1,851 tons, however, the company only entered into a sales agreement with a private Chilean company for this at the end of January 2025, so revenues could only be generated subsequently.
Altiplano Now Processing Material from Santa Beatriz
Altiplano is now processing mineralized material from the Santa Beatriz mine at El Peñón, where they recently began taking bulk samples. This is in addition to material from two independent, local sources being used to increase plant utilization while the development of Santa Beatriz progresses.
According to the company, the plant’s throughput will increase to 2,500 tons in March. Altiplano expects capacity utilization to continue rising in the coming months as new material sources are developed. The company is working with local producers to ensure maximum plant throughput can be achieved. Altiplano’s plant offers these mines a significant transport advantage compared to competing facilities. So far, 718 tons have been mined from Santa Beatriz and delivered to the plant, of which 654 tons have been processed.
Altiplano also plans to begin drilling at Santa Beatriz this week. This is intended to estimate the copper, gold, and iron mineralization along the strike and assess the potential for downslope mine expansion. The goal is to increase the exploitation of mineral extraction in the future.
President and CEO Alastair McIntyre stated: “We are pleased to receive our permit confirmation and thank the local authority for their commitment to mining and mineral processing projects. The permit confirmation provides operational security to procure mineralized material and develop mining facilities that support full-capacity processing. We continue to source mill material from the highly productive iron oxide-copper-gold district of Tambillos, which offers producers a very positive transportation advantage.”
