6 Nov 2020resource reserve update● Neutral
The Bolivar expansion study as filed, effective 31 December 2019 and dated 19 October 2020, prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) with Sierra's own VP Corporate Planning as one of the qualified persons.
Announcements, explained
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
5 Nov 2020resource reserve update● Neutral
Filed the technical report for the 10,000 tonne-a-day Bolivar study, with no material differences from the October announcement.
20 Oct 2020resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
A fresh Bolivar study, this time for 10,000 tonnes a day rather than the 5,000 assumed two years earlier: after-tax net present value of US$283 million at 8%, US$521 million of net cash flow, US$317 million of life-of-mine and sustaining capital and an operating cost of US$19.77 a tonne. The incremental step from 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes is worth only US$57.4 million of that at a 27.9% return, so most of the value is in the first doubling, not the second.
28 July 2020production update▲ GoodMajor
Restarted Cusi after the COVID-19 shutdown, with testing and quarantine protocols, aiming to ramp to 1,200 tonnes a day by year end - the rate the 2018 expansion study assumed. New chief executive Luis Marchese cites a better silver price and the new high-grade zone, and expects silver to become a meaningful part of the revenue mix again.
18 June 2020drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Sierra reported a new high-grade silver zone at Cusi in a northeast-southwest vein system, with drill intercepts of 17.45 m (true width) at 428 g/t silver, 4.90 m at 1,140 g/t, 9.35 m at 304 g/t and 8.75 m at 303 g/t. It said the 40-metre stockwork announced in 2018 was re-interpreted as high-grade veins extending northeast of the Cusi fault, an area previously thought barren.
14 May 2020resource reserve update● Neutral
Filed SRK's Bolivar technical report, effective 31 December 2019, supporting the March reserve and resource update with no material differences.
14 May 2020resource reserve update● Neutral
The Bolivar technical report as filed, prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) and dated 8 May 2020.
27 Apr 2020regulatory community update▼ BadMajor
Both governments extended their suspensions: Peru to 10 May and Mexico to 30 May 2020, with Mexican municipalities of low or null transmission exempt from 18 May. The company plans to restart Yauricocha on 11 May and possibly Bolivar on 18 May, Cusi stays in care and maintenance, and 2020 guidance remains suspended.
24 Apr 2020regulatory community update● Neutral
Routine notice that an annual general and special meeting will be held virtually on 30 June 2020, with 18 May 2020 as the record date. The filing does not say what the special business is.
1 Apr 2020regulatory community update▼ BadMajor
Mexico's government suspended non-essential activity, including mining, from 30 March to 30 April 2020; Bolivar is kept to an essential services crew and Cusi is in care and maintenance. This widens the COVID-19 disruption beyond Yauricocha to all three mines, and the company suspended its 2020 guidance (reversing the unchanged guidance of 17 March) and said it is preserving capital and deferring capital programs to improve liquidity.
31 Mar 2020resource reserve update● NeutralMajor
With the litho-structural model and the fourth-quarter drilling added, Bolivar's indicated resource rebounded 68% from the December figure to 19.5 million tonnes at 0.78% copper, and inferred rose 29% to 21.5 million tonnes - but at lower grades again. Reserves are 7.5 million tonnes at 0.69% copper, 13.4 g/t silver and 0.22 g/t gold, 5% less tonnage than the 2017 estimate after two years of mining about 2.5 million tonnes, with contained silver down 34%. Bolivar is getting bigger and poorer at the same time.
17 Mar 2020regulatory community update▼ BadMajor
Yauricocha stopped mining for a 15-day period under Peru's COVID-19 state of emergency; 470 staff were sent home and 150 remain on site. The company kept 2020 production guidance unchanged, citing above-budget output so far, about 37,000 tonnes of stockpiled ore (over two-thirds of what the mill needs during the stoppage), and room to run the mill above 3,150 tpd.
3 Feb 2020resource reserve update● Neutral
The Yauricocha technical report itself, prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) with an effective date of 31 October 2019.
3 Feb 2020resource reserve update● Neutral
Filed SRK's Yauricocha technical report, effective 31 October 2019, supporting the December 2019 reserve and resource announcement with no material differences.
8 Jan 2020security holder rights change▲ GoodMajor
Having entered a phase of generating free cash flow, the board approved returning up to US$30 million to shareholders in 2020. Half would go through a US$15 million substantial issuer bid by modified Dutch auction, with the method for the other US$15 million still under review.
31 Dec 2019resource reserve update▼ BadMajor
A rare downgrade after two years of increases: Bolivar's indicated resource fell 12% by tonnage to 11.63 million tonnes, with copper grade down 9%, silver down 20% and gold down 17%, to 0.95% copper, 18.1 g/t silver and 0.24 g/t gold. Inferred more than doubled to 16.69 million tonnes but at similarly reduced grades. Lowering the net smelter return cut-off pulled in lower-value material, which is the mirror image of the cut-off changes that had inflated earlier updates.
18 Sept 2019security holder rights change▲ Good
Raised the buyback ceiling from 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 shares, about 1.54% of those outstanding, having already bought and cancelled 1,457,822 shares at a weighted average C$1.9307 since the programme began in December 2018.
27 June 2019drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Received the construction permit for the next lift of the Yauricocha tailings dam, following the earlier environmental approval, plus a permit for surface drilling of four Titan 24 targets. Tailings capacity is the practical constraint on any throughput expansion, so this is the permitting step the 5,500 tonne-a-day study depends on.
3 June 2019asset acquisition disposition▲ Good
Bought out the 3% net-revenue royalty over the Cusi mine from Minera Cusi for US$4.0 million, US$2.5 million paid on signing in May 2019 and US$1.5 million due in May 2021. It removes the last private royalty over any Sierra property, leaving only government-imposed ones, and lowers the cost per ounce just as Cusi throughput is being expanded.
19 Apr 2019regulatory community update● Neutral
Routine notice that the annual general meeting will be held in Toronto on 19 June 2019, with 15 May 2019 as the record date. No business, financial or operating information is given.
3 Apr 2019drilling result▲ Good
Four holes testing Titan 24 geophysical anomalies extended the Bolivar West zone about 500 metres, averaging 1.15% copper (2.09% copper-equivalent) over 7.7 metres true width. Best intercepts were 2.29% copper with 7.56% zinc and 140 g/t silver over 4 metres in DB18B666, and 1.32% copper with 1.16 g/t gold over 20 metres in DB18B669 - more gold than the mine has historically carried.
11 Mar 2019debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Closed a six-year senior secured corporate facility of up to US$100 million with Banco de Credito del Peru, effective 8 March 2019 and maturing March 2025, priced at three-month LIBOR plus 3.15% with a two-year principal grace period then four years of amortisation. Part goes to repaying existing debt, the rest to Mexican capital projects and working capital; it carries consolidated net leverage and interest cover covenants.
13 Feb 2019regulatory community update▲ GoodMajor
SENACE has now approved the Yauricocha tailings facility environmental study that was not approved in December 2018, resolving that delay. The company can now seek a construction permit for the next tailings phase and plan an expanded waste rock facility; the final ITS submission needed for any mine expansion still comes after those steps.
11 Dec 2018security holder rights change▲ Good
Started buying back stock - up to 1,500,000 shares, about 0.92% of those outstanding, through CIBC on the TSX. A producer with three operating mines returning cash rather than raising it, which is the opposite of what an explorer's news flow looks like.
6 Dec 2018regulatory community update▼ BadMajor
Peru's environmental authority (SENACE) did not approve the environmental study for expanding the Yauricocha tailings facility; the company has 15 business days to file a re-evaluation. This holds up the permit path to lifting Yauricocha output 20% to 3,600 tpd, and the company says it could mean up to a seven percent temporary shortfall in total daily ore production versus projections. The Bolivar (to 3,600 tpd) and Cusi (to 1,200 tpd) expansions are stated to be unaffected and on track for Q1 2019.
4 Oct 2018drilling result▲ GoodMajor
A hole driven from the 720 level to 1,394.6 metres depth confirmed copper-molybdenum porphyry mineralisation in the quartz monzonite between the Cuye and Esperanza zones - 0.46% copper with 134 ppm molybdenum over 22 metres, and 0.54% copper over 18 metres. Grades are low against the polymetallic ore Yauricocha mines, but a porphyry is a different scale of target and it sits under an operating mine.
24 Aug 2018resource reserve update● Neutral
Filed the technical report for the Bolivar 5,000 tonne-a-day expansion study, completing the set of three; again no material differences from what was announced.
23 Aug 2018resource reserve update● Neutral
The Bolivar expansion study as filed, effective 31 October 2017 and dated 21 August 2018, covering the Bolivar mine and the Piedras Verdes plant. As with the Cusi report, the row's title was taken from an attached qualified person's consent rather than the study.
13 Aug 2018resource reserve update● Neutral
Filed the technical report for the Yauricocha 5,500 tonne-a-day expansion study, with no material differences from the June announcement.
13 Aug 2018resource reserve update● Neutral
The Yauricocha expansion study as filed, effective 31 July 2017 and dated 8 August 2018 - the document supporting the US$393 million net present value and 5,500 tonne-a-day case announced in June.