Our Pinos Altos mine has reserves* of 44 million tonnes grading 2.3 g/t gold and 64.8 g/t silver, containing almost 3.3 million ounces of gold and almost 92 million ounces of silver, including the Creston Mascota deposit.

It is located in the mountainous Sierra Madre gold and silver belt of northern Mexico, 220 kilometres west of Chihuahua. Mexico is known for its rich geology and pro-mining regulations. We have a large land position that measures 110 square kilometres and is directly accessible by paved highway.

Prestripping and mining at Pinos Altos began in 2008 from the Santo Niño pit. An underground mine beneath this pit began production in 2010.

The first Pinos Altos gold was poured in July 2009. The mine is expected to produce 168,000 ounces of gold and 2.2 million ounces of silver in 2011, and to average 175,000 ounces of gold and 2.3 million ounces of silver from 2012 through 2015, with a mine life to 2026.

The nearby Creston Mascota project was built in 2010 as a stand-alone pit and heap leach operation. It is expected to produce 31,000 ounces of gold and 65,000 ounces of silver in 2011, and to average 55,000 ounces of gold and 120,000 ounces of silver per year (over and above the Pinos Altos total) from 2012 through 2015. 

* Source Pinos Altos December 31, 2010 Reserves and Resources including Creston Mascota

Learn more

Pinos Altos receives "Clean Industry Certificate"	69.4 KB
Exploration Video - September, 2010	07:45
Exploration Slideshow - May, 2010	14:44
Pinos Altos Overview Video - May, 2010	04:12
Pinos Altos Opening Celebration Video - April, 2010	06:22
Pinos Altos Slideshow - April, 2010	08:51
Employer of Choice in Mexico - April, 2010	04:46
Pinos Altos Corporate Video - April, 2010	05:00
First Gold Pour - December, 2009	01:46
2011 Pinos Altos Operations Forecast - December, 2010	35.8 KB
2011 Creston Mascota Operations Forecast - December, 2010	9.71 KB
Technical Report - December, 2008	11.7 KB
Expansion	Link to page
History	Link to page

Expansion

Exploration continues at the Pinos Altos mine site, focusing on the Cerro Colorado, Santo Nino, and Oberon de Weber zones where there is potential to convert resources to reserves and to expand resources and reserves laterally and at depth. With the dramatic expansion of underground ore reserves since the project was acquired in 2006, the Company is now evaluating alternatives for increasing the underground mine capacity either through increased truck haulage or a production shaft; the study is expected to be completed in Q4 2011.

The process plant at Pinos Altos has already proven its capacity to exceed the original design throughput of 4,000 tonnes per day, so increased underground mine production would not require significant mill expansion.

Creston Mascota is the first satellite deposit to be developed on the Pinos Altos property, pouring its first gold on December 28, 2010, and achieving commercial production in March 2011.

Resources have been identified at the Reyna de Plata, Mina Bravo and Cubiro zones, all within 2 to 9 kilometres of the mill site.  These zones will be the focus of future regional exploration activity, evaluating the potential to add them to reserves and existing mine plans.

Close to Creston Mascota is the Cubiro deposit, discovered on surface by Agnico-Eagle. An underground exploration program and scoping study are being considered at Cubiro due to the difficult topography in this area, with the goal of converting resources to reserves and extending the zone to the northwest at depth. In addition, a parallel vein (Veta Colorada) located 200 metres to the northeast of Cubiro, is currently in the early stages of drilling. The Sinter deposit, 1.5 kilometres west of the Reyna de Plata zone, is also being examined as a possible source of open pit ore.

1871 – Gold and silver are discovered on what is now the Pinos Altos property.
1890 – Mining begins but is interrupted in 1904.
1938 to 1956 – The mine goes back into production. By the time it closes, it yields 180,000 ounces of gold and 1.8 million ounces of silver.
1995 – The potential of the Pinos Altos property begins to be revealed using modern exploration techniques.
2003 – A positive pre-feasibility study is completed.
2005 – Agnico-Eagle options the property and conducts a drilling campaign, with encouraging results.
2006 – Agnico-Eagle acquires the Pinos Altos property.
2007 – An exploration ramp is started at Santo Niño in April. In August, a favourable feasibility study leads to the decision to commence construction of the mine.
2008 – Prestripping of the Santo Niño pit begins in April and the initial ore is mined by year-end.
2009 – The first gold/silver doré bar is poured from the Santo Niño heap leach operation in July, and from the mineral processing plant in September. The mine is officially opened in November. 
2010 – The Creston Mascota stand-alone pit and heap-leach operation is constructed 7 kilometres northwest of the Santo Niño pit.