Edikan on track for production

5th March 2013 By: Esmarie Iannucci - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-listed gold miner Perseus Mining was on track to deliver on its revised gold production target at the Edikan operations, in Ghana, as remedial work on the crusher continued.

Perseus said this week that the replacement of the crusher’s main shaft and mantle assembly had been completed during February, while a number of modifications were also made to the crusher chute and conveyor, to improve material flows.

A further two-day shutdown was  planned in late March to complete all the remaining ancillary remediation work and fine tuning, and Perseus noted that as was the case with the February shutdown, this work was not expected to impact milling operations.

“The remediation of the crusher at Edikan has occurred as planned, and Perseus is now looking forward to putting the technical challenges of late 2012 behind us and returning to the gold production levels that we know the Edikan gold mine is capable of delivering,” said MD Jeff Quartermaine.

“Production of nearly 36 500 oz of gold in the March 2013 quarter to date, in spite of the challenges presented by the crusher, is encouraging and has provided a solid start towards achieving production guidance for the first half of this calendar year.”

Perseus was targeting production of between 105 000 oz and 125 000 oz for the first six months of the year.