PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Remedial activities at the embattled Karara iron-ore project have resulted in a 35.5% increase in production during the quarter ended September, ASX-listed Gindalbie Metals reported on Friday.
The Karara operation, in Western Australia, had been struggling to reach its nameplate capacity.
However, Gindalbie told shareholders that the remedial work at the project, which included upgrading the tailings filters and the temporary wet tailings facility, and thickener optimsiation, have enhanced the capacity of the concentrator circuit.
This, combined with a series of operational improvements, including feed blending of ore and the optimisation of wear liners, have resulted in a sizable boost to production.
During the three months to September, the Karara operation delivered 1 260 t of magnetite, up from the 930 t delivered in the three months to June, with some 1 142 t of product shipped during the quarter.
Given the ongoing work to assess and improve the production capacity at Karara, Gindalbie was unable to provide a production forecast for the project.
In September this year, Gindalbie reported a A$592.3-million asset impairment for the year ended June at the Karara operation, relating to the lower-than-forecast production levels at Karara, as well as the current capacity restrictions, lower-than-forecast iron-ore prices, and the higher-than-anticipated Australian dollar exchange rate.