PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-listed Crescent Gold remains on track to exceed the production target of its Laverton gold operations, in Western Australia.

The company expects sell more than 100 000 oz of gold during Laverton mine’s first 12 months of operations, said chairperson and MD Roland Hill on Thursday.

Crescent had completed a second 50-day processing campaign through the Barrick Granny Smith mill, in which 22 658 oz of gold and 7 707 oz of silver were produced through an ore processing agreement (OPA) between Crescent’s Laverton gold operations and Barrick Gold.

Around 27 251 oz of gold were produced during the first campaign.

Hill said that the OPA allowed the Laverton mine to process gold and silver at a significantly lower cost than doing it in house. Barrick, on the other hand, gained from the efficiencies presented by increased plant throughput, he noted.

“We remain extremely confident in the growth potential at the Laverton gold operations, it encompasses more than 750 km² of various mining, exploration and prospecting licences, and covers a well-endowed portion of the Laverton Greenstone Belt, a region with several known gold deposits and a rich history of gold production,” said Hill.

He added that Crescent had a well‐funded, ongoing drilling programme that it expected would provide a reliable ore supply for its future mining, and to continue realising the synergies offered by the OPA.