Excellon’s deeper gold-silver push at Mallay mine: restart design notes for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Excellon Resources is targeting deeper gold-silver mineralisation at the past-producing Mallay underground mine in Peru, where historical output focused on silver-lead-zinc veins. A new technical report outlines potential at depth below existing workings and along strike of the Mallay and Manto Santa Elena structures, supporting a possible restart scenario. For mine planners and geotechs, the shift to deeper targets implies renewed underground development, updated ground control in previously mined areas, and re-evaluation of shaft, hoisting, and ventilation capacity for a gold-silver focused operation.
Technical Brief
- Restart case must account for legacy voids, remnant pillars and potential stress redistribution around old stopes.
- Existing shaft, ramps and ventilation raises require condition assessment for corrosion, deformation and rockfall hazards.
- Tailings and waste rock facilities from prior operations present options for re-use or expansion, subject to stability checks.
- For similar brownfield underground projects, re‑using legacy infrastructure can cut capex but increases geotechnical uncertainty.
Our Take
Peru appears relatively under-represented in our recent Mining project coverage compared with jurisdictions like Canada and Australia, so deeper exploration at the Mallay mine may signal renewed interest in Andean underground gold–silver systems rather than greenfield plays.
Most of the 26 keyword-matched gold and silver pieces in our database focus on single-commodity optimisation, whereas Mallay’s gold–silver–lead–zinc mix implies more complex metallurgy and offers optionality to pivot revenue streams as individual metal prices move.
For Canadian operators active in Peru, such as at the Mallay mine, our coverage suggests permitting and community engagement timelines have been more predictable for brownfield underground work than for new open-pit proposals, which can influence how aggressively they pursue deeper resource targets.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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