Black Oak pours first dore at Manuka

19th March 2015 By: Esmarie Iannucci - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior Black Oak Minerals has poured its first silver dore from the Manuka silver project, in New South Wales.

The project was acquired in September 2014, and Black Oak started mining operations in January this year.

The A$60-million project poured its first silver in 2012, but the orebody proved more complex than first thought, prompting previous owner Cobar Consolidated to make adjustments to the processing plant, which resulted in a A$28.5-million impairment for the now defunct company.

Black Oak, previously known as Southern Cross Goldfields, said on Thursday that about 4 000 oz of silver had been produced at the Manuka project.

Production would progressively increase over the coming weeks to reach a capacity of around 200 000 oz/m of silver. After a six-month period, Black Oak would switch processing to treat gold ore being trucked in from the Mount Boppy gold mine, where mining also started.