By Daniella D’Alimonte – Exclusive to LeadInvestingNews
The cost of lead has been on a fairly steady decline for the last year. Prices have dropped to around 50 per cent since last July.
Despite these plummeting profits, companies are moving forward with exploration projects.
Calgary-based Mexican Silver Mines Ltd. (TSX: MSM), has recently announced a drilling program situated 30 kilometres Northeast of Monterrey, Mexico. Mexican Silver has discovered previously unrecognized lead-zinc deposits in this area. It is a historic zinc-silver-lead mining district. The company, which has dropped around 450 per cent since this time last year, has recently slipped down another US$0.04 or 10 per cent to US$0.36 per share.
Also mining in Mexico, Capstone Mining Corp. (TSX: CS) has announced an expansion at its Cozamin mine. It is located in Zacatecas state. Capstone has increased production by 900 tonnes per day since Q1. Lead production alone has increased from 1.5M lb to 1.7M lb in Q2 and sales increased by 0.7M lb. However, the average selling price dropped US$0.33 to US$1.00.
Winnipeg’s Wildcat Exploration (TSX: WEL) has dropped around 8 per cent or US$0.02 to US$0.17 per share. The company has also started a lead-zinc exploration program, located on its 11,800 hectare Foster River property in Saskatchewan. This program was initially set to be complete by the end of August. However, minor down-times caused by local forest fires have pushed the project back.
Ivany mining Inc. out of Montreal will be searching for lead and zinc in Alberta at its Zama Lake property, which is currently under option by Star Uranium Corp. (TSX: SUV).
Greenland plans to open seven mines over the next five years, a senior minister told Reuters in early July. A gold mine, diamonds, lead, zinc and an aluminium smelter are all part of the project. They plan to have the lead and zinc mines open in October, Aleqa Hammond, minister of finance and foreign affairs, told Reuters. With further plans for oil exploration, the country is aiming for political independence from Denmark through increased commodity wealth. Hammond also noted this could help the country adapt to the loss of jobs due to rising sea temperature and melting ice.
Angus & Ross, an exploration and mining company out of the United Kingdom, also announced plans for a Greenland project. After raising nearly US$7M from stockholders, it plans to re-open its Black Angel Mine in Western Greenland. The re-opening will still be behind schedule, but this money will allow for the completion of the mines cable car installation.
The large surplus and sinking prices of lead as well as zinc has driven some companies in the opposite direction. In Hong Kong, a number of mining companies have agreed to decrease their production by 10 per cent between July and September in an attempt to drive the prices up. They plan to do this in part by rescheduling maintenance and repairs for the summer months. The government has welcomed this move as it will free up needed energy for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.
