Luca Mining has significantly expanded its footprint in Mexico after reaching an agreement on Monday to acquire the Cozamin underground copper-silver mine from Capstone Copper. Located in the Zacatecas district, the twenty year old operation comes with a price tag of 290 million dollars upfront, with another 95 million dollars potentially following in deferred and contingent payments. This move marks a major strategic step for Luca Mining, coming just a week after it agreed to pick up the El Barqueño project in Jalisco state from Agnico Eagle Mines.
The acquisition provides Luca with a turnkey operation featuring robust infrastructure, including two ramp declines and the San Roberto shaft. The site is currently equipped to process 4,400 tons of ore daily, but Luca sees room for growth. Specifically, the company intends to investigate restarting an inactive zinc flotation circuit to take advantage of shifting market conditions for base metals. Recent years have already seen significant modernization at the site, as Capstone invested heavily in 2022 to implement a filtered tailings system and a paste backfill plant, supported by a prior streaming agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals.
From a geological perspective, Cozamin sits within a productive belt of vein deposits where mineralization remains open both at depth and along key strikes. The primary Mala Noche Vein spans five and a half kilometers, while high grade zones discovered more recently offer further promise. According to resource estimates from late 2025, the mine holds roughly 17.5 million tons of measured and indicated resources characterized by promising grades of copper and silver.
Dan Barnholden, CEO of Luca Mining, described the asset as a cash generating engine with deep untapped potential. While previous owners had projected a mine life extending to 2030, Barnholden believes there is plenty of room for expansion. To achieve this, Luca plans to aggressively increase exploration spending far beyond the current annual budget of two million dollars, aiming to push the operational lifespan of the mine well into the future through deeper drilling and discovery work.
