JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Austral Gold has paid ASX-listed Troy Resources $1-million to acquire an additional 19% interest in the Casposo silver-gold mine in Argentina, raising its stake to 70%.
Austral in 2016 recommissioned the mine and plant and started full operations in November, making significant progress in a number of areas including changes to the workforce, key changes to the equipment used in underground production and economies of scale.
Operational benefits have also been realised from implementing processes used in Austral’s other producing mine, Guanaco, and through improvements in the processing plant.
“The Casposo mine is a key piece of our growth strategy, with a large resource and significant potential for growth in the resource and new discoveries through brownfield and regional exploration,” Austral CEO Stabro Kasaneva said.
He added that the company was working towards its targeted production rates as it adapted the mine and workforce to a narrow-vein mining methodology. “This has brought its challenges, but we are confident we are now on the path to meet our targets,” he said.
To date, Austral has invested $5.8-million on developing Casposo and on recommissioning operations, $4.3-million of which was funded from internal cash reserves and $1.5-million through external financing.