TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed Largo Resources continued to ramp up vanadium output form its flagship Maracás Menchen mine, in Bahia state, Brazil, saying it had achieved new records for several production systems during March.

The Toronto-based firm this week said that production rates and recoveries at the project had stabilised and increased significantly, including at the leaching system. The plant also set a new record for production in a single day of 21 t, or about 81% of design capacity.

Recovery rates at the milling, kiln and leaching systems had each met and exceeded design targets over several days in March and daily production rates were at or above 19 t, equal to about 72% of the plant’s capacity, for 14 days in the month.

Largo added that it had also celebrated shipping its 2 000^th tonne of material under its offtake agreement with Glencore, since deliveries started in September last year.

“We are still in the ramp-up period, and as such, there is still more work to do to achieve capacity and design rates on a stabilised basis, but the significant improvement in performance this month has provided an excellent foundation to continue to grow production and consistency,” COO Michael Mutchler said.

TUNGSTEN SETTLEMENT
Meanwhile, Largo announced that it had settled its outstanding dispute with Global Tungsten & Powders (GTP) relating to a supply agreement between the parties entered into in January, 2011.

Under terms of the settlement, all Largo’s obligations to supply tungsten from its Currais Novos tungsten tailing project, which was processing tailings material left from the Barra Verde and Boca de Laje mines, had been terminated.

The project had been on care and maintenance since a severe draught forced it to shut down in October 2012. The draught proved persistent and the facility, also plagued by technical difficulties, has not been producing tungsten ever since.

Largo would pay to GTP a termination fee of $11.5-million in monthly instalments over the course of 2016.