Canada’s Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX: YRI) (NYSE: AUY) has hired GoldSpot Discoveries’ (TSX-V: SPOT) team of expert geologists and data scientists to identify new drilling targets at its Cerro Moro gold and silver mine in Argentina.
The Toronto-based miner said GoldSpot will explore the company’s entire database and look for previously unrecognized data trends to identify areas of potential mineralization both at depth and on a regional scale.
Yamana, which began gold and silver production at Cerro Moro in 2018, said the move seeks to minimize exploration risk and mitigate costs.
As most miners, the Canadian gold producer had to halt operations earlier this year due to covid-19 restrictions. It restarted Cerro Morro in April, noting the complex was expected to produce 96,000 ounces of gold and 6.3 million ounces of silver this year.
Previously, the mine had been forecast to churn out 117,000 ounces of gold and 7.5 million ounces of silver.
Cerro Moro, located in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province, is a high-grade, low-cost gold and silver operation sourcing ore from a combination of underground and open-pit mining.
Yamana has other five mines in South America and one in its home country — the Canadian Malartic mine, which the company owns as part of a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with Agnico Eagle Mines.
GoldSpot, a Canadian technology and investment company that leverages machine learning (Artificial Intelligence) to reduce capital risk, had previously worked with Yamana at the company’s El Peñón mine in Chile. As a result of that work, the miner reported growth in mineral reserves and resources at the asset, which promises to extend its productive life.
It also concluded that processing facilities at the site were under-utilized, so the positive results could potentially lead to higher output from El Peñón. That would spread operating costs over more ounces and likely reduce all-in sustaining costs.