Property · tenure · infrastructure
The Charay property: tenure, location and infrastructure
- Home
- Property
Serious buyers underwrite tenure and logistics before they underwrite grade. Charay clears both hurdles cleanly.
Titled ground, long runway
The property comprises three contiguous mining concessions totaling 380 hectares, held 100% by Minera Pafex, S.A. de C.V. and recorded in Mexico’s Public Registry of Mining (Registro Público de Minería):
| Concession | Title no. | Area | Titled | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis | 190743 | 30 ha | 1991 | 2041 |
| Charay | 219738 | 74 ha | 2003 | 2053 |
| Charay 2 | 222491 | 276 ha | 2004 | 2054 |
| Total — 100% Minera Pafex | 380 ha | — | — | — |
These are pre-reform, 50-year titles. Mexico’s 2023 mining-law reform shortened tenure and introduced tender processes for new concessions — which makes existing long-dated titles like these strategically scarcer than they were when granted. A concession confers the exclusive right to explore and exploit the minerals within its titled coordinates; once registered it is transferable, mortgageable and enforceable against third parties, functioning much like real property. (Our buyer’s guide covers the system in detail.)
The block was assembled outward over three decades: a 30-hectare core titled in 1991, extended in 2003 and 2004 into 380 contiguous hectares covering the El Padre vein, its known parallel structures and the Charay Breccia target. The holding is unencumbered — a single corporate owner, no legacy royalties or liens from prior operators.
Location & access
45 minutes from a city of 235,000
Charay sits on flat terrain in the municipality of El Fuerte, northern Sinaloa, with year-round access from the Los Mochis–El Fuerte corridor. This is settled agricultural country with an experienced regional mining workforce — not a fly-camp proposition.
Every element of the logistics chain a restart needs is already within reach, which is why the 2015 campaign could move from agreement to production in under four months.
| Terrain | Flat, year-round access |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Los Mochis, 45 min — pop. 235,000 |
| Power | Powerline crossing the property, 750 m from the vein |
| Rail | FerroMex mainline 6 km away |
| Port | Deep-water Topolobampo within the hour |
| Water | At 8 m depth |
| Workforce | Experienced regional mining labor pool |
Project history
Three decades of documented work
Each stage of Charay’s record was generated by a different, independent party — and each one is in the diligence package.
- 1880s
District workings begin
The San Blas camps are active from at least the 1880s. Four historic shafts and numerous pits trace the El Padre system across at least 550 m.
- 1991–2004
The block is titled
A 30-hectare core (San Luis) is titled in 1991 and extended in 2003–2004 into today’s 380 contiguous hectares covering the vein, its parallel structures and the Charay Breccia.
- 2004–05
First modern program
A TSX-listed explorer options the property and drills the 27-hole, 1,576 m core program — 19 vein intercepts over 240 m of strike — and prepares an internal tonnage estimate (2005; historical, see cautionary note).
- 2007–08
Independent verification
A second operator quarters, re-logs and photographs the core and re-assays 155 pulps plus 159 new samples at ALS (ISO 17025), with QA/QC inserted — gold reproduces at 91% of the original laboratory.
- 2010
QP recompilation
An independent Qualified Person (P.Geol.) recompiles the database with true widths at the –83° dip: 20.3 g/t Au and 123.7 g/t Ag over 1.29 m across 19 intercepts. A pilot mining program is initiated under a subsequent option-holder.
- Sep 2014
Production joint venture
An equal profit-share production joint venture is executed over the mine. The operator’s 2014 re-evaluation outlines 29,000 oz Au and 173,000 oz Ag in 90,000 t — a historical estimate, not a current mineral resource (see cautionary note).
- Dec 2014
First ore — on schedule and budget
First ore is delivered on 18 December 2014, under four months from agreement — a statement about permits, access and logistics no technical report can make.
- 2015
The producing year
15,430 t milled; 393 dry tonnes of concentrate shipped in 14 shipments, containing 3,668 oz Au and 24,550 oz Ag — in a sub-US$1,200/oz gold environment.
- 2017
Clean reversion to Pafex
The operator exits Mexico for portfolio reasons and the joint venture concludes; the concessions revert to 100% Minera Pafex ownership, unencumbered — which is the position offered today.
Walk the ground on paper first.
Titles, surveys, drill database and operating records — organized for diligence.