JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold and copper miner Orvana, which owns mines in Spain and Bolivia, has achieved a new quarterly consolidated gold production record of 26 414 oz in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

Consolidated gold equivalent production reached 35 292 oz in the quarter, a 27% improvement on the 27 683 oz produced in the second quarter.

The El Valle mine, in northern Spain, produced 13 705 oz of gold in the third quarter, a 15% increase on the 11 917 oz produced in the second quarter. Copper production increased by 24% quarter-on-quarter to 1.86-million pounds.

The mine also produced 55 682 oz of silver in the quarter, compared with 51 080 oz in the second quarter.

Orvana’s Don Mario mine, in Bolivia, completed its first full quarter of commercial production from a recommissioned carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit, lifting gold production by 48% quarter-on-quarter, to 12 709 oz.

The mine also produced 1.98-million pounds of copper in the third quarter, compared with the 1.36-million pounds produced in the second quarter, while silver production increased to 19 896 oz, compared with the 15 405 oz produced in the second quarter.

“The recent significant investments we have made into our operations are resulting in consistent quarter-on-quarter improvements in our production results.

“With the improved gold production from the successful implementation of the CIL circuit at Don Mario, we are well positioned to extend the life of Don Mario. At El Valle, the return to sustained higher mill throughput rates, in excess of our target of 2 000 t/d, has allowed for higher metal production despite mining through lower-grade skarn zones,” Orvana chairperson and CEO Jim Gilbert said on Monday.

The company said it was on track to meet full-year guidance of 85 000 oz to 95 000 oz of gold, 13-million to 14-million pounds of copper and 300 000 oz to 350 000 oz of silver.