JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Copper and gold miner Rambler Metals and Mining has lifted copper concentrate production from its Ming copper and gold mine, in Newfoundland and Labrador, by 33% quarter-on-quarter, delivering 4 788 t of concentrate in the three months ended October 31.

The concentrate contained 1 272 t of copper metal, 1 986 oz of gold and 15 664 oz of silver, the TSX-V-listed company stated in its 2016 first-quarter production report on Wednesday.

Quarterly concentrate graded 26.5% for copper, 12.9 g/t for gold and 101.75 g/t for silver, while headgrades for copper averaged 2.42%, headgrades for gold 1.45 g/t and headgrades for silver 8.8 g/t.

“I am very pleased with the performance of the operation and meeting the planned production guidance for the quarter. The ore blending strategy outlined in the prefeasibility study (PFS), released earlier this year, has been initiated with development into the lower footwall zone (LFZ) from previously established headings.

“This transition into Phase 2 of the operation, aimed to optimise all available infrastructure, is a necessary and a positive step forward for the company,” commented CEO and president Norman Williams.

Phase 2 would see the blending of high-grade ore with bulk tonnage extracted from the LFZ until gradually transitioning into 100% LFZ by year 12.

The optimisation plan envisioned the addition of a new ball mill, and related infrastructure, installed in parallel with the existing grinding circuit at the Nugget Pond milling facility.

With ore from the operation’s LFZ now available for processing, Williams added that the 2016 plan would test the processing limits of the crushing, grinding and floatation circuits at Nugget Pond.

“This testing will allow management to firm up the mill expansion plans prior to moving ahead with any new construction,” he added.

The first year of the optimisation plan at Ming was under way, with mine and mill production increasing to 850 t/d by the end of the current financial year in July 2016.

Additional capital would be required to reach 1 000 t/d mill throughput, while the existing grinding circuit would require expansion to reach 1 250 t/d.