Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - IMPACT Silver Corp. (TSXV: IPT) (OTCQB: ISVLF) (FSE: IKL) ("IMPACT" or the "Company") announces its financial and operating results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2024. The Company reports revenue of $8.6 million in Q3 2024, representing an 81% increase over revenue of $4.8 million in Q3 2023. The improvement in revenue is due to substantially higher silver and zinc prices, a ramp up in production from the Plomosas zinc mine, as well as an improvement in average mill head grade in the period compared to Q3 2023. Mine operating earnings (before amortization and depletion) in Q3 2024 was $1.03 million compared to $0.01 million in Q3 2023. The net loss in Q3 2024 was $1.2 million, an improvement from a net loss of $1.5 million in Q3 2023, with a return to positive cash flow anticipated when the Plomosas Mine is in full production.
Q3 2024 Highlights:
Revenue from the Zacualpan asset was $6.1 million in Q3 2024, up from $4.8 million in Q3 2023.
As operations continue to ramp up, production at the Plomosas zinc mine continued to increase, milling 12,686 tonnes in Q3 2024, up from 9,256 tonnes in Q2 2024 and 3,594 tonnes in Q1 2024. In Q3 2024, production averaged approximately 70% of design capacity.
Revenue generated from Plomosas was $2.5 million in the quarter, and year to date was $5.4 million. Operating costs at the mine have remained consistent throughout 2024.
The net loss in Q3 2024 of $1.2 million improved from net losses of $2.6 million in Q2 2024 and $3.1 million in Q1 2024.
After investing $1.9 million in exploration expenditures and mining assets during the quarter, the cash position was $6.4 million, with working capital of $7.1 million, and no long-term debt.
"The third quarter brought numerous positive developments for the Company and its stakeholders. Notably, the Plomosas mine is nearing its design capacity after nearly 18 months of rehabilitation and refurbishments. Additionally, the average mill head grade at the Zacualpan asset is improving as the Company resumes gold production from the Alacran mine. Finally, with cost inflation increasingly under control, operating profits have risen, supported by significant increases in silver and zinc prices." said Fred Davidson, President & CEO.
Zacualpan Silver District
During the quarter, the Zacualpan mill processed a total of 32,901 tonnes of mill feed at the Zacualpan/Guadalupe complex, down from 35,062 tonnes in Q2 2024. Lower throughput was primarily related to extreme weather in September that resulted in loss of power from the Mexican power grid and washouts across some of the Company's primary haul roads. As a result, silver production from the Guadalupe complex during the period was 142,945 ounces ("oz") compared to 152,152 oz in Q2 2024. The average mill head grade for silver was 160 grams per tonne ("g/t"), and 4 g/t higher than the comparable quarter in 2023. Gold production was 176 oz as production recommenced from the gold-rich Alacran mine with improved recoveries, as a result of recent metallurgical studies and improvements. Revenue per tonne sold in Q3 2024 was $180.90 compared to $129.46 in Q3 2023, an increase of 40%, while direct costs per tonne in Q3 2024 increased 14% to $146.27 from $128.75 in Q3 2023 but were down from $153.26 in Q2 2024.
Plomosas High-Grade Zinc Mine
In Q3 2024, the Plomosas mine continued its gradual start-up of operations, having processed 12,686 tonnes in Q3 2024 and 25,536 tonnes on a YTD basis. The YTD average grade in 2024 for zinc was 12.7%, 7.9% for lead and 47.2 g/t for silver. On a YTD basis, Plomosas concentrate sales were 1,770 tonnes of zinc, 344 tonnes of lead, and over 22,000 oz of silver.
Following nearly 18 months of rehabilitation of mobile equipment, plant facilities, infrastructure and the underground mine, production has meaningfully expanded. Towards the end of Q3 2024, production stood at approximately 70% of mill capacity. As production increases, additional limitations both underground and at the mill are exposed and quickly addressed. The Company is expanding the existing tailings pond and concurrently, a new, larger tailings pond is at the design stage. These efforts will provide additional capacity to re-establish and grow output at the mill while providing the Company with substantial tailings capacity for future production increases.
Outlook
Management looks forward to seeing the Plomosas zinc mine reach full capacity in the coming months while continuing to invest in exploration across the nearly 6 km strike, of which just one-tenth has been explored to-date. Meanwhile, management is targeting grade improvement at Zacualpan and ongoing, improving gold recovery from the Alacran mine. With cost inflation increasingly under control, strong metal prices, combined with execution and efficiencies at both mine sites and a debt free balance sheet, the Company believes it is well-positioned to add shareholder value through year-end and in 2025.
A recorded conference call reviewing the financial and production results of the quarter ended September 30, 2024 will be available on the Company website on November 28, 2024 at http://www.impactsilver.com/s/ConferenceCalls.asp.
The information in this news release should be read in conjunction with the Company's Q3 2024 unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis, available on the Company website at www.impactsilver.com and on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.com. All amounts are stated in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified.
ABOUT IMPACT SILVER
IMPACT Silver Corp. (TSXV: IPT) (OTCQB: ISVLF) is a successful intermediate mineral producer and explorer with three mining projects in Mexico.
Royal Mines of Zacualpan Silver-Gold District: IMPACT owns 100% of the 211 km2 Zacualpan project in central Mexico where four underground silver mines and one open pit mine feed the central 500 tpd Guadalupe processing plant. To the south, the Capire Project includes a 200 tpd processing pilot plant adjacent to an open pit silver mine with an NI 43-101 inferred mineral resource of over 4.5 million oz silver, 48 million lbs zinc and 21 million lbs lead (see IMPACT news release dated January 18, 2016, for details and QP statement). Company engineers are reviewing Capire for a potential restart of operations to leverage improving commodity prices. Over the past 18 years, IMPACT has developed multiple exploration zones into commercial production and has produced over 12 million ounces of silver, generating revenue more than $277 million, with no long-term debt.
Plomosas Zinc-Lead-Silver District: Plomosas is a high-grade zinc producer in northern Mexico with exceptional exploration upside potential. The Company recently restarted mining operations and is expected to reach design capacity production levels over the next six months. Exploration potential at Plomosas is exceptional where only 600m of the 6 km-long structure have seen modern exploration. This is in addition to other exploration targets on the 3,019-hectare property including untested copper-gold targets with indications of high-grade material from surface. Regionally, Plomosas lies in the same mineral belt as some of the largest carbonate replacement deposits in the world.
George Gorzynski, P.Eng., is a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has approved the technical information contained in this news release.
On behalf of IMPACT Silver Corp. "Frederick W. Davidson" President & CEO
For more information, please contact: Jerry Huang CFO | Investor Relations (604) 664-7707 or inquiries@impactsilver.com (778) 887 6489 Direct
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This IMPACT News Release may contain certain "forward-looking" statements and information relating to IMPACT that is based on the beliefs of IMPACT management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to IMPACT management. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "planned", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the expected use of proceeds of the Private Placement.
Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks and assumptions, including with respect to, without limitations, exploration and development risks, expenditure and financing requirements, title matters, operating hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices, community relations, criminal activity, exchange rates, pandemics, the ability to properly and efficiently staff the Company's operations, the sufficiency of current working capital, the estimated cost and availability of funding for the continued exploration and development of the Company's exploration properties, and one-time events. Should any one or more risks or uncertainties materialize or change, or should any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and forward-looking statements may vary materially from those described herein. IMPACT does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
The Company's decision to place a mine into production, expand a mine, make other production related decisions or otherwise carry out mining and processing operations, is largely based on internal non-public Company data and reports based on exploration, development and mining work by the Company's geologists and engineers. The results of this work are evident in the discovery and building of multiple mines for the Company and in the track record of mineral production and financial returns of the Company since 2006. Under NI 43-101 the Company is required to disclose that it has not based its production decisions on NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource or reserve estimates, preliminary economic assessments or feasibility studies, and historically such projects have increased uncertainty and risk of failure.
