Endeavour Silver (TSX: EDR) said late Sunday that a blockade that shut down its flagship Terronera mine has been removed, clearing the way for the operation to restart after nearly two weeks offline.
The company said the blockade was lifted and that operations would resume on August 24, ending a standoff that began August 12 when members of a neighbouring Ejido community blocked access to the site.
Endeavour suspended mining and processing at Terronera shortly after the blockade went up, keeping a reduced crew on site for safety and security. The company described the demonstration throughout as peaceful, orderly and respectful, and said the site remained accessible for maintenance while talks continued.
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The community’s concerns centred on road maintenance, medical services and communications support, control of and access to water, and increased financial assistance. Negotiations, which Endeavour characterized as cordial, ran through an August 20 update in which the company reported no material change before a resolution came days later.
RELATED: Endeavour Silver Suspends Terronera Operations Amid Illegal Blockade
Endeavour said it will continue working with the Ejido community to support stable, long-term operations. The company had earlier signalled it was prepared to pursue legal remedies if the situation dragged on.
The timing matters because Terronera is the newest and, in several respects, the most important piece of Endeavour’s portfolio. The mine poured its first production in the second quarter, processing 175,729 tonnes and delivering 582,043 payable ounces of silver, or 1.30 million silver-equivalent ounces, at cash costs of $5.07 per ounce, making it the lowest cost operator of the company’s three operating mines.
Guidance for the year calls for 2.4 million to 2.6 million ounces of silver and 35,000 to 36,000 ounces of gold from Terronera at throughput of 1,950 to 2,050 tonnes per day, within a consolidated target of 14.6 million to 15.6 million silver-equivalent ounces.
Endeavour has not updated that guidance. The ramp up, which had been scheduled to run through the third quarter, now picks up where it left off.
Endeavour Silver last traded at $14.62 on the TSX.
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