PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Gold junior Beadell Resources on Friday said that work at its Tucano project, in Brazil, was exceeding expectations, despite the anticipated wet season rainfall.
Total gold ore mined was some 17.3% above expectations, while cash costs were significantly below the cost expected for the ramp-up phase.
Beadell noted that carbon-in-leach (CIL) gold plant throughput had also accelerated rapidly, and was currently close to a rate of four-million tons a year, a 14% increase over the 3.5-million-ton-a-year nameplate capacity. This was achieved within two months of commissioning.
The company poured its first gold at Tucano during December last year.
“This is an outstanding effort from our operational team, with further improvements ongoing. With our extensive earthmoving fleet performing well, coupled with our excellent CIL plant, we are well set up to deliver superior returns on our investment,” said Beadell MD Peter Bowler.
Beadell was currently working on updating the 2013 production plan to incorporate the high-grade openpit Duckhead oxide deposit. Currently, some 200 000 oz of gold production was planned at Tucano during 2013.
Bowler said on Friday that approvals for the Duckhead gold deposit were continuing to progress well, with a formal go-ahead expected shortly.