The Los Ricos South Project, located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, is a gold-silver-copper mine that will be mined using underground and open pit methods.
The project is fully owned by GoGold Resources, a Canadian silver and gold producer, through its subsidiary, Minera CM Jalisco.
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The Los Ricos Property is divided into two projects, Los Ricos North and Los Ricos South, which are 25km apart
.According to the Feasibility Study (FS) published in January 2025, the project is expected to produce 7.3 million ounces (Moz) of Silver Equivalent (AgEq) over the first five years, with an average operating cost of $9.9/oz AgEq.
With a 12-year mine life, the project will produce underground a total of 80moz AgEq comprising 41moz, 424,000 oz silver, and 11 million pounds of copper (Cu).
Mining will primarily be conducted, with open-pit operations beginning in the 10th year.
Los Ricos South Project Location
The topography of Los Ricos is fairly rugged and steeply incised. The Los Ricos Property is located roughly 100km northwest of the city of Gaudalajara.
The property spans over 24,000 hectares (ha) and includes 45 concessions.
The site is accessible via a four-lane highway west of Guadalajara, followed by a two-lane highway passing through the town of Tequila to the community of Magdalena, 70km away.
From Magdalena, the site can be reached via a 5km paved road and an additional 20km of well-maintained gravel road.
Background
The Los Ricos Property has been subjected to several historical mining operations.
The Destajos, Famosa and Trinidad zones of the Cinco Minas vein were exploited in the early 1500s during Spanish colonial times.
The Cinco Minas Mining (CMMC), owned by Marcus Daly Jr, worked on the property after acquiring it from Luis Martinez of Guadalajara.
The property produced in the order of 2.1Mt of 0.13oz/t gold (4.46g/t) and 18.6oz/t silver (637g/t) as indicated by Wisser in 1930.
In March 2019, the property was acquired by GoGold from private Mexican Owners under concession agreements.
An initial mineral resource estimate for the Los Ricos South Project was announced in July 2020.
In August 2020, GoGold signed a surface rights agreement with the Ejido of Cinco Minas who owns the surface rights over the majority of the project concessions.
In the same year, GoGold completed a diamond drilling programme with geological mapping, sampling, and trenching on the property.
In January 2021, a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was announced which provided a base case Net Present Value (NPV) of $295m.
In October 2022, the owner acquired the Eagle concession on the Los Ricos South Project and conducted a drilling programme there in 2022 and 2023.
A technical report for the mine was published in October 2023. Following an updated mineral resource estimate and an initial mineral reserve estimate, the Feasibility Study (FS) was announced in January 2025.
Los Ricos South Project Geology and Mineralisation
The Los Ricos Property is a classic epithermal precious metal deposit, hosting the Cinco Minas Vein system.
The deposit exhibits at least three phases of quartz and sulphide mineralisation and deformation.
The vein forms a boundary between two calc-alkaline magmatic arcs: the northern older Sierra Madre Occidental volcanic province and the southern younger Trans-Mexican volcanic arc.
The property hosts pyrite and chalcopyrite abundantly with concentrations of sphalerite, galena, argentite, native silver, miargyrite, and other silver sulpho-salts.
The banded, milky, brecciated, and amethystine quartz shows periods of quartz emplacement and intra-mineral deformation.
Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates
The proven underground mineral reserves for the mine are 3.9Mt containing 23,472koz silver at a grading of 187.1g/t, 202koz gold at a grading of 1.61g/t, 7.5 million pounds (Mlb) copper at a grading of 0.09%, and 41,939koz silver equivalent at a grading of 334.3g/t.
The probable mineral reserves are 3.6Mt containing 17,647koz silver at a grading of 152g/t, 197koz gold at a grading of 1.70g/t, 14.6Mlb copper at a grading of 0.18%, and 36,895koz silver equivalent at a grading of 317.8g/t.
The Proven open pit mineral reserves for Los Ricos South are 580kt containing 1,768koz silver at a grading of 94.8g/t, 13koz gold at a grading of 0.72g/t, 0.3Mlb copper at a grading of 0.02%, and 2,965koz silver equivalent at a grading of 159g/t.
The probable open pit reserves for the mine are 2.1Mt containing 4,961koz silver at a grading of 72.1g/t, 44koz silver at a grading of 0.64g/t, 1.4Mlb copper at a grading of 0.03%, and 8,924koz silver equivalent at a grading of 129.7g/t.
The measured open pit mineral resource estimate for the project is 5.3Mt containing 31,090koz silver at a grading of 181g/t, 262koz gold at a grading of 1.53g/t, 9.2Mlb copper at a grading of 0.08%, 651koz Gold Equivalent (AuEq) at a grading of 3.79g/t, and 55,013koz silver equivalent at a grading of 320g/t.
The indicated mineral resource estimate for the project is 5.6Mt containing 26,059koz silver at a grading of 144g/t, 287koz gold at a grading of 1.59g/t, 18.9Mlb copper at a grading of 0.15%, 632koz gold equivalent at a grading of 3.50g/t, and 53,549koz silver equivalent at a grading of 296g/t.
The inferred resources for the project are 2.2Mt containing 7,473koz silver at a grading of 106g/t, 79koz gold at a grading of 1.11g/t, 13Mlb copper at a grading of 0.27%, 191koz gold equivalent at a grading of 2.70g/t, and 16,191koz silver equivalent at a grading of 229g/t.
Mining and Ore Processing
The project is primarily designed as an underground mine with a 12-year lifespan. Open-pit mining will commence in the 10th year, overlapping with underground operations.
The mining will deliver ores to a 2,000-tonne-per-day process plant.
Contract underground mining will be conducted by longitudinal sub-level long-hole stoping method and cemented paste back filling of the mined-out stopes.
In the process plant, the ores will be crushed, grinded, and leached in a cyanide tank. To maximise the recycling of water, back-end filtration is needed.
Cyanide is sent back to the process plant after its recovery from a SART (sulfidation, acidification re-neutralisation and thickening) circuit.
The process produces a saleable copper sulfide product, silver-gold dore bars, and a copper precipitate.
Project Infrastructure
Los Ricos South has infrastructure in place which consists of power, access roads, and historical mining facilities.
A 220kV transmission line cuts the project to the south of Cinco Minas. The transmission line is operated by the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE).
The project has an agreement with the CFE for power supply. The power is also sourced from the La Yesca Hydroelectric Dam located near the site.
The historical mining facilities comprise shafts, adits, underground development, building foundations, pits, and waste dumps.
Contractors Involved
P&E Mining Consultants, a Canadian mining company, acted as the lead consultant in preparing the FS for the Los Ricos South Project.
To support the study, P&E collaborated with several specialised firms. Ausenco, an Australian engineering company, provided engineering expertise, while SGS Canada’s Lakefield office conducted metallurgical testing.
The Canadian consulting firm WSP contributed additional consulting services, and CIMA served as the environmental consultant.
Other contributors included Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a US-based firm offering strategic advisory services, Paterson & Cooke, a UK-based project engineering firm, and BQE / D.E.N.M. Engineering, which provided process and engineering support.
P&E Mining Consultants also played a key role in the project’s early stages, having prepared the 2020 technical report and the initial mineral resource estimate.
