Production
Mineralized material at San José is processed at a mill site, with half of the concentrate material produced being processed into doré, and the balance filtered and shipped as concentrate. The mine has been in commercial production for over 12 years and is estimated to continue producing gold and silver into 2024, according to the December 2018 assessment. The life of the mine continues to be updated as exploration advances and reserve estimates are renewed.
McEwen Mining's attributable production for 2018 at San José was of 47,331 gold ounces and 3,020,696 silver ounces, for a total of 87,607 gold equivalent ounces using a 75:1 gold-to-silver ratio. For 2018, cash costs and all-in-sustaining costs per ounce of gold equivalent were $851 and $1,061, respectively. Below are presented annual production numbers and costs per ounces sold over the most recent three years.
McEwen Mining's guidance for 2019 production at San José was of 49,000 ounces of gold and 3,225,000 ounces of silver. From the second quarter of 2019 the Company has adopted a variable gold-to-silver ratio for reporting, that approximates the average during each fiscal quarter. Based on a 85:1 gold-to-silver ratio for 2019, the production guidance translates into a total of 87,000 gold equivalent ounces at estimated cash costs and all-in sustaining costs of $860 and $1,120 per gold equivalent ounce, respectively. Our attributable production at San José for 2019 was of 51,700 ounces of gold and 3,354,000 ounces of silver, for a total of 91,700 ounces of gold equivalent.