JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Highland Gold Mining’s Mnogovershinnoye (MNV), Novoshirokinskoye (Novo) and Belaya Gora mines, in Russia, produced 59 311 oz of gold and gold equivalent in the first quarter of this year, a 9% year-on-year decrease.

MNV’s quarterly output slowed as technical issues that were uncovered in the fourth quarter of 2017 resulted in a reduced processing plant capacity; however, the mill returned to full volume in early March.

Ore mining at MNV declined by 33% year-on-year in the first quarter owing to the reduced availability of processing capacity and the use of ore from stockpiles.

Processing volumes, however, fell by 31% year-on-year owing to one of two semi-autogenous grinding mill lines being halted in the last quarter of 2017 following the discovery of a damaged feed trunnion, which was replaced in March and is now operational.

An updated Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant reserves estimate for MNV, including the results of 2017 exploration, is expected at the end of the third quarter.

The Belaya Gora processing plant, meanwhile, experienced seasonal technical issues during the March quarter but is now operating at full capacity.

Waste stripping increased by 85% year-on-year in the first quarter as mining operations moved from stockpiles to the openpit, while total ore mining increased by 9% year-on-year.

Ore processing, however, declined by 16% year-on-year owing to seasonal problems with water supply to the mill.

The recovery rate was 74.68%, an increase of 6.1% over the same period last year.

Novo, however, saw slight increases in ore mining and processing but gold equivalent production remained flat year-on-year owing to lower recoveries, the company said on Monday.

Total ore mining reached 223 057 t in the first quarter, a 7.5% increase from the first quarter of last year.

Ore processing also gained pace during the quarter, rising 3% owing to the optimisation of technological processes, but recovery rates dipped slightly.

Design documentation and construction schedules for Stage 1 of the expansion project, focused on increasing underground ore production to 1.3-million tonnes a year, were formulated and submitted to the State regulators for approval.

This stage is forecast to be completed by the end of this year and includes comprehensive upgrades to the main rock hoisting shaft, including winding engine, headframe, loading boxes, primary crusher and modification to associated surface buildings. 

For Stage 2 of the project (processing plant upgrades), the design process is under way on a new line at the processing plant and for the tailings dam. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2019 with full capacity to be reached in 2020.

Highland is also reviewing the potential for using dense media separation or X-ray separation to reduce capital costs for the Stage 2 mill expansion.

Meanwhile, Highland Gold affirmed its forecast for total production of gold and gold equivalent of between 265 000 oz and 275 000 oz for the full year.