El Peñon is located in the Atacama Desert, in northern Chile, approximately 165km southeast of Antofagasta. Gold production commenced in 1999, with the operation comprised of a 2,000tpd mine and mill. Mining has consisted of both open pit and underground methods. Since 2006, it has been solely an underground operation producing in excess of 200koz/a with production peaking at over 335koz. In 2016, Yamana updated the understanding of mineralisation being confined to narrow veins. Following this conclusion the company established the scale of mine development and exploration drilling that would be necessitated if gold production were to be sustained over 200koz/a. As such, it was deemed that the right course of action was to stabilise production at around 150koz/a by improving selectivity.