PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold developer Dacian Gold is on track for commercial production at its Mt Morgans operation, in Western Australia, before the end of the year.
Dacian on Monday reported that ore development at the Allanson underground production decline had now started, while mining activities at the Beresford South and Beresford North declines were ongoing.
Openpit mining at the Jupiter deposit was also advancing well, Dacian said.
“The project is ramping up in line with our schedule across both the underground and openpit mining operations,” said Dacian executive chairperson Rohan Williams.
“The project is ramping up in line with our schedule across both the underground and openpit mining operations. The start of ore development at our third underground production decline at Allanson marks another important step in the ramp-up with mining activities across all three underground mining centers,” said Williams.
He noted that along with the strong progress at the Jupiter openpit, the ramp-up of the underground operation meant that Dacian was confident of achieving commercial production by the end of 2018, as Dacian progressively increased production in each successive quarter of the year.
The Mt Morgans operation is expected to produce between 180 000 oz to 210 000 oz in the 2019 financial year.
“As previously indicated, production is weighted towards the second half of 2019 as we mine higher grade openpit ore in the Cornwall shear zone at Heffernans within the Jupiter pit and increase the rate of stoping activities at Westralia across the three mining production fronts, including the higher-grade Allanson deposit.”