PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper/gold miner Sandfire Resources has reported a slight decline in copper production for the three months to September, compared with the June quarter, following planned maintenance shutdowns at its DeGrussa mill, in Western Australia.
Copper production for the quarter under review reached 15 258 t, compared with the 17 092 t delivered in the June quarter, while gold production over the same period was up from 9 721 oz to 10 669 oz.
Some 437 136 t of ore were mined from the DeGrussa operation during the quarter, grading 3.79% copper, with a total of 413 834 t of ore milled, grading 4.05% copper.
Sandfire told shareholders on Thursday that copper recovery in the September quarter was impacted by elevated talc in the ore feed, which is forecast to continue through to December.
Meanwhile, C1 cash operating costs for the September quarter were on par with that reported in the previous three months, at $0.95/lb.
Sandfire on Thursday maintained its full year production guidance for 2018, of between 63 000 t and 66 000 t of contained copper metal, with gold production expected to be in the range of between 35 000 oz and 38 000 oz.
C1 cash costs are expected to be between $1/lob and $1.05/lb.