TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Ontario-focused gold miner St Andrew Goldfields (SAS) lifted quarter-on-quarter output from its Holt, Holloway and Hislop gold mines, in Ontario, by 3.6% to 25 353 oz in the quarter ended June 30.

“Our second-quarter results remain strong with production at the 25 000 oz level. With just under 50 000 oz of gold produced in the first half of the year, we are on track with our plan and well positioned to meet our 2013 guidance. We remain focused on reducing costs and maintaining a strong cash position,” president and CEO Jacques Perron said.

The company also reported that it had recovered 686 oz of gold from processing a portion of the bulk sample material from the Taylor project, 53 km east of Timmins.

Last year, the company had extracted a 15 000 t bulk sample from the advanced project to test the mining method and gather information to confirm the geological block model. The material was taken from the 1008 lens in the upper part of the West Porphyry zone.

The bulk tonnage was fed through a sampling tower during the first quarter of the year. The company processed about 8 500 t of the bulk sample grading 2.65 g/t gold. Mill recovery, at 95.2%, was higher than expected.

The samples were assayed, additional drilling was conducted in the area of the bulk sample and external third parties conducted structural and geochemical analyses.

SAS said this additional information indicated that the orientation of the 1008 lens was different to that of the geological block model and the structural analysis indicated that the 1008 lens was in a much more complex geological environment than previously thought.

The company would now advance the ramp to accommodate drilling of the 1004 lens, which would provide a second bulk sample.

About 91% of the known reserves were located in the lower part of the deposit.

SAS said the results of the 1004-lens drill programme and the price of gold would determine how quickly it would advance the Taylor project.