PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) has reported a significant drop in production during the three months ended September, as it had to process lower-grade stockpiles, following the completion of mining at the Pit 3 opencut mine at Ranger.
ERA produced 610 t of uranium oxide (U3O8) from its Northern Territory operation, which was 36% less than the previous quarter and 51% less than the corresponding quarter in 2012.
The miner explained this week that the majority of the high-grade ore of the now mined-out Pit 3, was processed during the first half of the year. As the mill was primarily fed with lower-grade stockpiled material, U3O8 production during the September quarter was lower.
This trend would continue until the start of production from the Ranger 3 Deeps mine, which was still subject to obtaining all necessary approvals.
For the full 2013, ERA expected to produce between 2 800 t and 3 200 t of U3O8.
Meanwhile, the Rio Tinto subsidiary reported that work continued on the Ranger 3 Deeps exploration decline, along with underground exploration drilling, with some 11 holes completed during the quarter under review.
The Ranger 3 Deeps exploration decline project remained on schedule and within budget.
Surface exploration drilling of previously identified targets to the north of the Ranger project area also started during the September quarter, with some A$4-million spent. At this stage, no significant intercepts have been encountered.