Endeavour Silver (TSX: EDR) has suspended operations at its Terronera mine after members of a neighbouring ejido community erected an illegal blockade, stalling the ramp-up of the asset that underpins the company’s 2026 growth.
Work has been stopped at the mine since August 12. The company disclosed the situation Sunday evening, describing the blockade as peaceful, orderly and respectful. The group is pressing for road maintenance, improved medical services and communications support, greater control over water supply and access, and additional financial assistance.
Site staffing has been reduced to maintain safety and security protocols, though the property remains accessible for maintenance work. Endeavour said it is in active discussions with Ejido leaders and intends to resume full operations as soon as possible. It also reserved the right to pursue legal remedies should the standoff drag on.
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The timing is awkward. Terronera is the newest mine in Endeavour’s portfolio and, by unit costs, the strongest performer in it, despite entering the third quarter still mid-ramp.
In the second quarter, the operation processed 175,729 tonnes and produced 582,043 ounces of silver, or roughly 1.3 million silver equivalent ounces. Cash costs came in at $5.07 per payable silver ounce, a fraction of what Guanaceví and Kolpa cost to run, with all in sustaining costs of $26.42. An LNG plant began commissioning in June and is now operating, part of a ramp-up the company had scheduled to run through the current quarter.
That schedule now looks less certain. Endeavour’s 2026 guidance calls for 2.4 million to 2.6 million ounces of silver and 35,000 to 36,000 ounces of gold from Terronera at a throughput rate of 1,950 to 2,050 tonnes per day. The figure equates to some 5.6 million to 5.8 million silver-equivalent ounces, or well over a third of consolidated output guided at 14.6 million to 15.6 million ounces.
Much of that was weighted to the back half of the year, when the mine was to shift from lower-grade stockwork material into higher-grade veins. Endeavour has not quantified the impact or revised its guidance.
Endeavour Silver last traded at $14.76 on the TSX.
