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Resource World - Oct/Nov 2013 - Volume 11

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MININGWORLD Smith Foster & Associates Inc. – Experts in Mexico by Kathrine Moore Peter Smith and Marcus Foster formed Vancouver-based Smith Foster & Associates Inc. (SFA) in 2011 to assist mining companies in developing mining projects in Mexico and Latin America. They provide consulting and ownerengineer services through all stages of a project including project and construction management of the execution stage. They provide well-designed, cost effective plants that are constructed on budget, quickly and safely. They can do this because they have a strong management team that includes proven engineering and construction partners, all of whom are local, Spanish-speaking professionals with extensive mining experience and knowledge of the region. Case in point is the El Cubo Project which SFA recently completed. Endeavour Silver Corp. [EDR-TSX; EXK-NYSE] acquired the El Cubo Mine, a few miles outside of the Mexican city of Guanajuato, in July of 2012. It fit with Endeavour's strategy of "buying and rejuvenating struggling old mines in historic mining districts." The original plant had two ball mills and produced 800 TPD. In October, 2012 Endeavour Silver appointed SFA as project managers of a new process plant for their El Cubo Mine. The new plant called for a production capacity of 1,600 TPD and included the addition of a new ball mill along with the refurbishing of two existing ball mills as well as new crushing equipment, fine ore storage bins, flotation cells, thickeners, tailings line, main building, foundry, control building, reagent building and a filter plant. november 2013 El Cubo under construction, summer 2013, Guanajuato, Mexico. Photo Courtesy of Smith Foster and Associates. Demolition of the existing El Cubo process plant by the EPC contractor began in November, 2012 with the goal of the project to have two ball mills operating at 1,200 TPD by May 6, 2012 and all three ball mills operating by July 3, 2013. The tight deadline was due to the lease expiring on May 6 of a nearby process plant that Endeavour was utilizing for the El Cubo mine. This gave SFA and the EPC contractor a mere six months to complete the project. The very tight schedule required round-the-clock construction plus a number of incentive measures to accelerate the work whilst maintaining the required quality and budget. In May, 2013 the first two mills began operating and by end June, 2013 all three mills were in full operation. Since handover, the process plant has consistently produced 1,600 TPD. On October 9, 2013, Endeavour Silver reported record silver and gold production for the Q3, 2013 from their three operating mines in Mexico: the Guanaceví Mine in Durango State and the Bolañitos and El Cubo Mines in Guanajuato State. Endeavour Silver reported, "The Bolañitos plant operated at capacity and the mine produced an extra 32% tonnes above plan in order to fill the available capacity at the newly rebuilt El Cubo plant." SFA had provided the same management services on Bolanitos which was completed just before the start of El Cubo. Peter Smith said the key to successfully managing projects in Mexico is having an experienced, Spanish speaking team, many of them Mexican. Their intimate knowledge of process plants and the region allows them to outperform there. Though the team can work in any Spanish speaking country, Foster said that the company's focus is Mexico where they have worked on several projects. Smith said, "We like to have Vancouverbased, Canadian clients and there are many companies with operations in Mexico." Foster said over the years, they have developed excellent working relationships with engineers, fabricators, and suppliers in Mexico. Mining is a big part of Mexico's economy and regulations are not onerous and environmental standards are well established. With the markets being what they are, now is a good time for companies to invest in improving efficiencies, upgrading, and expanding their operations. n www.resourceworld.com 53

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