Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium miner Galaxy Resources is predicting higher output in the 2019 financial year from its Mt Cattlin operation, in Western Australia, following a strong fourth quarter.
Total mining volumes from the Mt Cattlin operation increased by 27% during the fourth quarter, compared with the three months to September, with spodumene concentrate production climbing by 8%, from 31 156 t to 33 780 t.
In the full year ended December, spodumene production reached 156 689 t.
Galaxy on Thursday noted that some 39 682 t of spodumene concentrate was sold during the fourth quarter under review, bringing full-year concentrate sales to 159 255 t.
Ore grades from the Mt Cattlin operation are set to improve as mining activities progress to the area east of Floater Road. The ore mined form this area will only be processed in the first quarter of 2019, and will result in an improvement in recovery, Galaxy told shareholders.
Construction of the yield optimisation project (YOP) at the Mt Cattlin plant was also completed during the quarter, and commissioning was some 85% complete by the end of the period.
The YOP includes an ultra-fines dense media separation circuit, a secondary float re-crush circuit and several optical sorting units. These productivity improvement projects have been implemented with the objective of increasing overall process recovery, and the improvements are expected to take effect from the first quarter of 2019.
Galaxy is targeting total spodumene production volumes of between 40 000 t and 45 000 t for the first quarter of 2019, and between 180 000 t and 210 000 t for the full calendar year.