PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner Independence Group has reported a solid quarter for the three months to September, with its operations across Australia delivering on expectations.
At the Tropicana gold joint venture, in Western Australia, a total of 1.5-million tonnes of ore, at an average grade of 2.82 g/t gold, were milled resulting in the production of 133 833 oz of contained gold, of which Independence’s 30% share accounted for 35 878 oz.
This compared with the 143 900 oz of contained gold produced in the previous quarter.
At the Long nickel mine, in Western Australia, Independence Group produced 61 986 t of ore, grading 4.12% nickel for 2 551 t of contained nickel. This was compared with the 2 564 t of contained nickel produced in the previous quarter.
Independence said on Wednesday that contained nickel metal in ore for the September quarter was 3.5% higher than expected owing to the increased run-of-mine grades.
Meanwhile, the Western Australia-based Jaguar zinc/copper operation produced 34 571 t of concentrate during the three months to September, of which 25 255 t was zinc concentrate and 9 317 t was copper concentrate.
This was in line with the 35 656 t of concentrate produced in the previous quarter, of which 26 529 t was zinc concentrate and 9 127 t was copper concentrate.
Looking ahead, Independence on Wednesday told shareholders that the Tropicana mine was expected to deliver between 141 000 oz and 147 000 oz during 2015, while the Long mine would produce between 9 000 t and 10 000 t of contained nickel.
The Jaguar mine was expected to deliver between 40 000 t and 43 000 t of zinc in concentrate, and between 5 800 t and 6 500 t of copper in concentrate.