Baja Mining Corp.

Underground mining has commenced on schedule at the Company’s Boleo project and the first desalination plant has also become operational.  [ View Photos ]

Baja Mining has started to receive underground mining equipment for September’s scheduled initiation of underground mining, and site preparation for the tailings dam has begun. The Company has also spent all of its own equity, has fully drawn the funding loan and is scheduled to begin drawing its subordinate debt in August.  [ View Photos ]

On June 15, 2011, Dr. Bruno Ferrari Garcia de Alba, Secretary of Economy of México as the personal representative of the President of Mexico, presided over the ceremony to lay the First Stone of Boleo’s mining construction. The Secretary of Economy was welcomed by the Company’s President and CEO, John Greenslade, the Governor of Baja California Sur, Marcos Alberto Covarrubias Villaseñor, the Municipal President of Mulegé, Guillermo Santillán Meza and a 130-strong audience including senior management from the Company’s Korean partner, shareholders and members of the local Santa Rosalía community. [ View Photos ]

In the week commencing May 2, 2011, the Company’s surface mining team completed an initial machine operator training program and commenced mining activities to develop the surface facilities and underground mining portals that are scheduled for operation later in 2011. [ View Photos ]

First concrete poured on March 30, 2011 initiated construction of the six counter current decantation (“CCD”) high-rate thickeners (each thickener is 60 metres in diameter). The CCD thickener pads will require 14,000m3 of concrete. [ View Photos ]

The awards ceremony was held in New York on March 3, 2011. The ceremony was attended by members of Baja’s management team, Board and financial advisors (Endeavour Financial International Limited) and other key players involved in the successful completion of the $823 million debt facilities. This financing was one of the largest ever completed by a mining company of our size and allowed construction of the Boleo project to resume in November 2010. [ View Photos ]

Two cement batch plants have now been erected by Cemex near the site. They will prepare all concrete for site construction, with each batch plant able to produce 70m3 of concrete per hour.  The first 14000m3 of concrete will be poured in Q2 of 2011 to produce the pads for the six counter current decantation (CCD) high-rate thickeners. [ View Photos ]

February 18 & 19, 2011: Minera Boleo, in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, conducted a two-day job fair called “A Job for You.” The fair was attended by state and municipal authorities, MMB executives, MMB contractors and subcontractors, and by 689 job-seekers from around the state of BCS. There were 600 jobs on offer. [ View Photos ]

Mining equipment and other long lead items are beginning to arrive at site. [ View Photos ]

The Governor of Baja California Sur together with several other local dignitaries attended the Boleo Project re-initiation ceremony. During the celebration, a ribbon cutting ceremony and the unveiling of a celebratory plaque were organized. [ View Photos ]

[ View Photos ]

Upon completion of the financing (over US$ 1 billion raised in both debt and equity) the EPCM contractor began mobilizing to site [ READ THE NEWS RELEASE ]