Sorry for the delay in documenting this site visit; The Hoov is starting to wish that there were two of him, so that he could do not only the things he needs to do, but the things he wants to do. I've been dying to tell you about this, but business comes before pleasure. Thank you, Mr. Jim Voisin, for letting me tag along as you conducted your business. At a torrid pace, I might add. This man is a machine, when he's got work to get done. And thank you, Karl Trudeau (project manager) and Arturo Garcia (CFO) for your gracious and exemplary hospitality and support. You made even the most difficult situations comfortable. And my travel companions, for putting up with me. And all the others, too numerous to add.

I probably should have made notes, as some of the minor details of the trip are starting to fade. I'm not sure we were ever sitting still long enough to do that, though. Anyway, here goes.....

We set off from Guadalajara early in the day, under bright sunshine. After a couple of hours on pavement, we reached the end of that road. Without my realizing what was happening, suddenly we turned to the right off the pavement, and we were dropping down a steep single lane gravel track, with a blind turn coming. It turned out that this was what passed for the road to La Yesca (and other communities out that way). The next 37 km would take about 2 1/2 hours to traverse.

Immediately upon entering the rough road, we had to cross a large river. There is a concrete bridge over it, but it had suffered severe damage in a storm. Passenger vehicles could still use it, but heavy equipment (such as the bulldozer we passed on the way in) had to ford the river, and make their way in on their own power. I'm told the bulldozer (heading for UC's tailings pond project) took 3 days to get in. I'm going to come back to the topic again and again: infrastructure. Until you've seen what challenges are before Mr. Voisin and his team, with your own eyes, you just couldn't possibly imagine the logistical challenges of doing what he is doing.

I wasn't sure how I was going to go about describing the site inspection and mule run, but I've decided to reference specific photos here, as I go through the trip chronologically. The photos can be found at [LINK].

Unfortunately, my photos from the drive in did not turn out well, as low clouds and poor light made the pictures too difficult to interpret, unless you'd seen the real deal. But we spent a couple of hours climbing endless swithbacks up the side of a mountain, drove along a 3 metre wide (at most) trail right along the ridge crest, and then plunging down the other side, towards the town of La Yesca. We passed a fair number of vehicles along the way, and I'll tell you, we were rather close to the edge too many times for my liking. Here's a shot of one that didn't make it (la yesca 1).

Anyway, after a brief pit stop in La Yesca (the town), we headed straight to the mill, for a tour of the facilities. The first stop was the tailings pile. In the old days (when the mill was operating, a hundred years ago), they just used a conveyor system to move the tailings out and dumped them down the valley. As the pile built up, they just extended the conveyor system. It's virtually impossible to tell exactly how much is there, as there's no way to know the topographic layout of the valley itself, lying beneath the pile. The best estimate is that there's enough material to run the mill at 220 tonnes/day for 4-5 years. The pile is huge. (Photos: channel cut through tailings pile, to expose deeper "horizons" (la yesca 2); face of the above cut, showing the "horizons", slanting down to the left (la yesca 3); looking down the valley from the height of the tailings pile (la yesca 4); El Hefe (The Boss), standing on his tailings pile. Note the slope of the terrain, and the narrow access road behind him (la yesca 5)).

We then toured the processing equipment. On the way up above the mill proper, to where the tailings will feed into the crusher (There is modest amounts of agglomeration/concretion in the tailings. Although originally all like fine sand, weathering has led to the formation of some rock-like lumps.), we walked past the old roasting ovens (la yesca 6). My photos of the crusher/screener didn't turn out, for some reason.

The next shot is of the smaller existing ball mill (la yesca 7; CFO Arturo Garcia in the foreground). As SN has noted, the mill did not produce a fine enough grind for economic recovery of the precious metals still remaining in the tailings. To the left, out of the shot, is where the larger ball mill will soon be installed. The ball mills incorporate the cyanide solution with the tailings, and feed wet slurry onwards.

The next shot is taken from the top of the primary settling tank, where the tailings are removed from the system (la yesca 8). This line of agitators hold greenish-tinged cyanide solution from previous test runs. Above those tanks is another line, the clarifier line. It was pre-engineered to also be able to manage raw ore, when it will be made available from the nearby mineralized zones (including the places we went on muleback, if all goes according to the plan).

The next shot is looking down towards the engineering and welding sheds (la yesca 9). The concentrate recovery sheds and lab are to the left. The pools are to hold pregnant liquor (metal laden cyanide solution) if the precipitation or filtration processes must go offline for any significant period of time. The end product is a gray powder containing zinc, gold, and silver, which will be shipped out in that form. It will be smelted and refined by third-party contractors (for the time being, at least).

Before I move on to other matters, I also discussed at some length the chemistry of this cyanide processing of the tailings (I'm a chemist). I looked at some lab reports detailing various chemical inputs and their effects on yield. These tailings are more difficult to process (read give less yield) than would raw ore material with the same grade. There will be some 'art of mill process' tweaking to be done, when the mill gets up and running. Jim has a man with over 25 years experience in the Merrill Crowe (cyanide leach/zinc recovery) process overseeing that part of the operations. And the mill has been purposely configured to be able to accept raw ore feedstock (with the later addition of a primary crusher). The worst case yield projections from this tailings material were used to determine that the project would be cash flow positive after it is commissioned. Of course, they will work to increase those yields, which can only be accomplished as the mill operates over time. But, as I said, the worst case bench scale modelling led to projections of cash flow positive mill operation.

This next shot is from the bench being dug into the hillside (roughly a 45 degree slope), which will have to be dug down some 70 metres, to bring it level with the mill (la yesca 10). The tailings pile is visible to the left. Here's the bulldozer at work, tearing into the hillside (la yesca 11). Jim tells me he now has three bulldozers on site, and his own swing shovel with a jackhammer attachment, breaking up the larger boulders. Trying to make flat land out of that hill.....the best option available, but most certainly a challenge, non?

And here's Sudbury Novice, at the end of a very long day, perhaps wondering just why he let himself get into this? (la yesca 12)

Early the next morning (there is no such thing as sleeping in, with Mr. Voisin running the show), we were off to meet up with the mules and the guide. This shot was taken on the way over to the base of the mountain we were to climb, and shows some grids cut for sampling and geophysics, adjacent to an historic but shallow mining activity in a vein system (la yesca 13). Jim believes that there are at least 3 parallel mineralized vein systems across these UC claims, and that they line up with the mines we were going to visit. Geophysics and drilling planned for later this year.....then we'll get some real data on that hypothesis.

Here's El Hefe on his mula (la yesca 14). His buddy Glenn is to the left, and SN is to the right, apparently paying far to much attention to the posterior of his mula. You can see the grid from the last photo in the background of this shot.

Here we are, on the lower slopes, doing one of the many switchbacks required to climb the mountain, zigging and zagging again and again (la yesca 15). Unfortunately, I have no pictures from the steeper portions of the climb, as I was thoroughly occupied with remaining mounted. I had been told that "the mule doesn't want to die either", so I was to just sit tight and hold on while the mule figured out what he needed to do. Trust me, I did just as I was told. And here's where we were going (la yesca 16). Somewhere on the cliff face is the historic mine called El Mirador. And here's a picture of the town of La Yesca, taken from somewhere during our ascent (la yesca 17). The mill is out of sight, to the right, at the end of the valley. Another shot of the mountain, taken on the way out, is la yesca 24.

Okay, here we are at a "mine" site for El Mirador (la yesca 18). I put it into parentheses, as I struggled to balance what I was seeing there with what I have seen at mines in Canada. Note the slope of the mountain. The flat area was built by hand, by the miners, using dry stone lay-up techniques. Ore from these mines was chiselled out by hand, loaded on mules, and taken out on the very trails by which we had come in. Simply mind-boggling, if you ask me. Here's the opening to the historic workings (la yesca 19). And here's a shot of visible veins of mineralization, adjacent to the entrance (la yesca 20). Modern chip sampling has indicated that this vein is far from barren, but these historic miners must have been after better stuff.....all based on visuals.

Here's Jim and Arturo, with Jim in front of another mine entrance (la yesca 21; La Colorada?....I may have them backwards). Mine entrance you say? (la yesca 34) Seriously, there's 2000 gram/tonne silver in there, on open work faces. (Somehow I uploaded the wrong picture for the mine entrance shot. La yesca 22 is our patient mules, which we did not lead all the way to the mine entrance. There would have been no room for all of us, and the last part of the climb was extremely steep.)

Here's a shot of a typical road, just to show you that this isn't Ontario. (la yesca 23)

Then we went back to the mill, to check on the tailings pond progress. The first shot shows the long view of the slope into which the pad is being cut and the bulldozer at work (la yesca 25). And a look down from where the bulldozer was humming away (la yesca 26). From the same vantage point, a look at the mill access road, visible in the lower centre of the shot (la yesca 27). I asked Jim to stop on that road on the way out, just so I could show you one of the many "pinch points" that limit vehicle size going in to the mill (la yesca 28). Note that the SUV pretty much fills the available space on a tight blind corner, and that there is an overhang from above, limiting height (or, pushing taller vehicles further to the left). The light wasn't great for the next shot, but about 6" behind Jim (in the shadow) is the drop-off into the valley below (la yesca 29).

This is how we left La Yesca (la yesca 30). The 'airstrip' is the pale line just ahead of the plane. And here's what was at the end of the strip (la yesca 31). Yes, we were then airborne, but not by much. And here's a look just a moment later (la yesca 32). It still mystifies me that they found a flat bit large enough to build a strip. We drove about 6 km beyond the town of La Yesca to reach it, but that journey took about a half an hour. All along the way, I saw nothing that suggested that there was flat terrain anywhere.

And I want to close with an image that I think symbolizes the challenges Jim is overcoming at the La Yesca mill (la yesca 33). Infrastructure? At least the ROF is flat. I saw 20 foot shipping containers on the mill site that I cannot picture coming in on that access road. I spent years driving large trucks, and I just cannot picture how they did it. Just sayin'. My hat goes off to you, Mr. Voisin. When, not if, you pull this off, you have earned my praise, without reservation.

Just for the record, the "civilians" that went along with Jim on this adventure covered their own expenses. And I don't know how on Earth the heavy equipment operators will accomplish it, but Jim asserts that a road will be bulldozed over to that mountain we rode up on the mules. Up the mountain, too, if I have the story right. So, no more mules rides required. With that access, geophysics will be done, and drilling soon to follow. The mill has been intentionally configured to accept raw ore too, and Jim's going after that ore. Thanks again, Jim. I'd do it again in a hearbeat.

Lar