PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-listed Equinox Minerals has reported a first-quarter operating profit of $82,1-million and a net profit of $32,5-million on the back of a production ramp-up at its Lumwana copper mine, in Zambia.

During the quarter ended March, the African operation produced 30 471 t of copper product, despite the quarter being the wettest part of the year, which resulted in seasonally lower material movement.

Lumwana milled 3,5-million tons of ore, which was down 10% from the previous quarter, owing to a four-day power outage and a planned seven-day crusher shutdown.

“We have come through the most challenging part of the year at Lumwana, and although it is early days, the dry season is allowing us to ramp-up productivity,” said Equinox president and CEO Craig Williams.

Williams noted that so far, April was shaping up to be one of the company’s best months, with strong copper production, underpinned by record plant performance and record mine productivity.

Production from Lumwana in 2010 was expected to reach 135 000 t of copper metal in concentrate. Meeting this target, Williams said, would depend on a range of factors, including the improvement of availability and use of the mining fleet, and the improvement in performance of the processing plant.

He added that Lumwana was well placed to improve on material movement coming into the dry season, with the focus remaining on equipment use and productivity.

The mine would move progressively out of the starter pit, which has been supplying most of the ore, but has been constrained in terms of working faces. This would allow mining in more productive areas, with cutbacks to both the south and the north of the current working sub-pits successfully stripped of waste and overburden during the wet season.

Williams said that a continued focus on operator training, improved blasting practices and larger benches should also see productivity and equipment use improve.

Once the ramp-up of the Lumwana project was completed, Williams noted that Equinox would look to increase its processing rates at the plant.

The processing plant was capable of treating ore at rates above its design capacity of 20-million tons a year of copper, and management believed that it was capable of treating up to 24-million tons a year without any significant modification.

“Once Lumwana reaches design capacity, it is the company’s objective over a further period of 18-months, to increase mine output to achieve this 24-million tons a year target,” Williams said.

“However, given the very large resource and the long mine life of the Lumwana project, there is potential to increase mine output further, to in excess of 30-million tons a year.”

He noted that such an increase would require expansion of the processing plant and mining fleet.

Equinox has now started on studies to optimise the expanded throughput rate and determine the scale and cost of such an expansion.

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