Modern day documented mining activities commenced in 1982 when the Santa Fe Mining Cooperative of Guanajuato commenced rehabilitation and diamond drilling operations focusing on the Providencia, Carmen and Ave de Gracia epithermal vein trends. The Cooperative focused the majority of their work on the rehabilitation of the Purisma-Empalizada workings, La Moria adit and the Dolores Shaft, including the construction of above-ground infrastructure.  Due to financial difficulties and internal disputes the Cooperative ceased production at the Dolores Mine in 2000.

Cerro del Gallo was first recognized as a possible gold-silver-copper target by CRM during detailed surface investigations in the 1970’s. The alteration system was first drilled by the Santa Fe Mining Cooperative in December 1984 (discovery hole BNo. 251) and later with four more diamond core holes in 1997. Luismin S.A. de C.V. (“Luismin”), now a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldcorp Inc., commenced exploration at San Anton in 1994, focusing on Cerro del Gallo.

Luismin completed a limited exploration program of rock chip sampling (400 samples over an area of 880 by 700m), trenching (10 @ 1m X 200m), geophysics and drilling (11 core holes and 4 RC). All holes were drilled around the flanks of Cerro del Gallo to test anomalous gold-silver-copper-molybdenum rock-chip geochemistry and chargeability geophysical anomalies. Exploration was however, constrained by the small size of their tenement holdings, which at that time consisted of just Ave de Gracia and El Cipres.

It soon became apparent that the mineralization extended well beyond the Luismin tenements onto ground held by the Santa Fe Mining Cooperative which drilled four core holes close to the boundary and obtained similar results.

Luismin purchased the Cooperative tenements in May 2004 and consolidated ownership of the ground covering the system, thereby allowing modern systematic exploration to take place.