Oyu Tolgoi mine, Mongolia
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Second-quarter production at Turquoise Hill Resources’ Oyu Tolgoi gold/copper mine, in Mongolia, proceeded as planned and remained steady quarter-on-quarter, the Vancouver-based miner revealed on Monday.
Ore treated in the quarter was impacted by a scheduled five-day maintenance shutdown in May, which was successfully completed, said Turquoise Hill CEO Jeff Tygesen in a statement.
“Concentrator throughput for the first half of 2017 continued to perform well, as did material mined," he added.
Material mined in the second quarter increased by 3.5% over the first quarter, though grades remained flat quarter-on-quarter. Copper and gold production in the second quarter was in line with first-quarter production, despite the planned maintenance shutdown.
Meanwhile, copper sales in the second quarter decreased 5.6% over the first quarter, owing to lower concentrate volumes, while gold sales in the period under review decreased 28.1% quarter-on-quarter, as sales in the first quarter included higher-grade concentrate from the fourth quarter of 2016.
The triple-listed miner expects Oyu Tolgoi to produce between 130 000 t and 160 000 t of copper this year, and between 100 000 oz and 140 000 oz of gold in. Openpit operations are expected to mine in Phases 4 and 6 during the year. In addition, stockpiled ore will continue to be processed during 2017.