jonathaninATX
March 29th, 2011, 12:13 PM
Texas silver mine gets new life after 1942 closure
http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2011/03/26/21/Texas_silver_mine_03-27-2011_9V1KORG8.standalone.prod_affiliate.81.jpg
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
The Associated Press
SHAFTER, Texas | A highway sign proclaims “Shafter Ghost Town,” and on either side of the two-lane blacktop are ruins of stone and adobe structures amid a handful of houses.
About 70 years ago this patch of West Texas desert was home to a bustling community and one of the nation’s most reliable sources of silver. That all began to wither in 1942, when a wartime workforce shortage and plummeting silver prices forced the Presidio Mine to close and hastened Shafter’s demise.
Today a Canadian company is reviving the mine to take advantage of silver prices that have tripled since 2009, giving the few dozen residents living in the area more action than they’ve seen in decades. The mine will return significant metals production to Texas for the first time in many years.
“No doubt the price of silver makes this a viable project,” said Sandy McVey, the project manager for Vancouver-based Aurcana Corp., referring to prices that have spiked to more than $30 an ounce. “And we need to get this mine up and running fast before the window of opportunity closes.”
Rio Grande Mining Co., acquired by Aurcana in 2008, is building roads and installing underground equipment. It expects to begin producing 800-pound silver bars by the middle of next year.
Production is estimated at 3.8 million ounces of silver annually — about half the amount the nation’s largest single silver operation, the Greens Creek mine in Alaska, produces now.
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/26/2755293/texas-silver-mine-gets-new-life.html
I thought this was interesting since this is the first time I ever heard of any silver or gold mine restarting
thoughts on how this could change our economy? maybe:)
http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2011/03/26/21/Texas_silver_mine_03-27-2011_9V1KORG8.standalone.prod_affiliate.81.jpg
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
The Associated Press
SHAFTER, Texas | A highway sign proclaims “Shafter Ghost Town,” and on either side of the two-lane blacktop are ruins of stone and adobe structures amid a handful of houses.
About 70 years ago this patch of West Texas desert was home to a bustling community and one of the nation’s most reliable sources of silver. That all began to wither in 1942, when a wartime workforce shortage and plummeting silver prices forced the Presidio Mine to close and hastened Shafter’s demise.
Today a Canadian company is reviving the mine to take advantage of silver prices that have tripled since 2009, giving the few dozen residents living in the area more action than they’ve seen in decades. The mine will return significant metals production to Texas for the first time in many years.
“No doubt the price of silver makes this a viable project,” said Sandy McVey, the project manager for Vancouver-based Aurcana Corp., referring to prices that have spiked to more than $30 an ounce. “And we need to get this mine up and running fast before the window of opportunity closes.”
Rio Grande Mining Co., acquired by Aurcana in 2008, is building roads and installing underground equipment. It expects to begin producing 800-pound silver bars by the middle of next year.
Production is estimated at 3.8 million ounces of silver annually — about half the amount the nation’s largest single silver operation, the Greens Creek mine in Alaska, produces now.
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/26/2755293/texas-silver-mine-gets-new-life.html
I thought this was interesting since this is the first time I ever heard of any silver or gold mine restarting
thoughts on how this could change our economy? maybe:)