Announcement of One Hundred Forty Seven Million US Dollars Project to Develop Silver Mine in Central Mexico on October 6, 1980

International Finance C01poration • 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington. D.C. 20433, U.S.A. 202~4 77-1234 IFC Press Release No. 81/17 Monday, October 6, 1980 $147 Million Project to Develop Silver Mine in Central Mexico The largest mixed sponsorship silver mining venture in Mexico in a number of years will be financed by Mexican, Canadian and United States businesses and financial institutions and the International Finance Corpora- tion (IFC). The approximately $147 million project will develop a new open pit silver-lead-zinc mine by Minera Real de Angeles S.A. de C.V. near Zacatecas in Central Mexico. The new mine will benefit an underdeveloped region of Mexico where semi-arid climatic conditions allow little other use of the land~ It will • create almost 480 new jobs and generate an estimated $78 million a year in export earnings. Sponsors of the project, each providing approximately $12.3 million in equity 5 are Comision de Fomento Minero, a Government mining promotion and investment agency; Frisco S.A. de C.V., a publicly traded Mexican mining company; and Placer Development ~td. of Canada. Loan financing of $110 million is being provided by IFC, the World Bank affiliate that assists private enterprise projects in developing coun- tries. Participating in the loan is a group of banks managed by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce of Toronto, Canada, and Bancomer S.A. of MeX!Jco and including Citibank, N.A., The First National Bank of Chicago and the Bank of British Columbia. The Real de Angeles project includes beneficiation facilities to treat some 3.5 million metric tons of ore annually with lead-silver concen- trate production estimated at 51,000 tons and zinc-cadmium concentrate production of 49,000 tons. It will be one of the largest open pit silver- lead-zinc mines in the world, measuring approximately 875 yards in diameter • and 275 yards in depth. - 2 - • The project is expected to increase Mexico's silver production more than. 10 percent as well as substantially expand zinc and lead production. • [Any inquiries strictly relating to IFC's participation in this project should 1 be directed to the IFC Information Office, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, Telephone (202) 676-0394.] •