Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner Alacer Gold has increased the production expectations from its flagship Çöpler mine, in Turkey, from between 180 000 oz and 200 000 oz, to between 190 000 oz and 210 000 oz.
The higher production would result from an increase in oxide production between 2015 and 2019, as the proposed sulphide plant at the Çöpler mine was brought into full production.
The $660-million sulphide project would consist of the introduction of a whole-ore pressure oxidation (POX) circuit that would extend the life of the mine and boost current resources and reserves.
The POX facility was expected to process sulphide ore at a rate of 5 000 t/d and would result in a 20-year mine life for the project.
Meanwhile, during the quarter ended March, the Çöpler mine produced 50 949 oz of gold, of which 40 759 oz was attributable. This was down from the 42 335 oz of gold produced in the first quarter of last year, with Alacer pointing out that total material mined during the quarter was one-million tonnes lower, driven by the allocation of mining resource to the initial stage of the heap leach pad Phase 4 construction.
Full-year mining rates were expected to increase in line with the revised guidance.
The lower gold production was also ascribed to colder winter weather in 2015, which impacted heap leach kinetics.
Despite the lower production, cash operating costs for the period reached $419/oz, down 19% on the first quarter of 2014, reflecting the higher oxide ore gold grades, as well as a 32% decrease in the stripping ratio, and an adjustment to the inventory of recoverable gold ounces on the leach pad owing to an updated heap leach gold recovery model.
Meanwhile, revenue from gold sales for the first quarter reached $61.8-million, compared with the $71.8-million sold in the previous corresponding period.