PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper/gold miner Sandfire Resources has reported solid September quarter results, with copper production remaining steady at 17 924 t, compared with 17 867 t in the June quarter.
Gold production over the same period increased from 9 548 oz to 11 141 oz.
Sandfire on Thursday maintained its copper production target of between 63 000 t and 67 000 t for the full 2019 financial year, while gold production is expected to reach between 37 000 oz and 40 000 oz.
Headline C1 cash operating costs for the full year are expected to be between $1/lb and $1.05/lb, compared with the $0.89/lb reported in the September quarter.
Meanwhile, Sandfire on Thursday reported that first ore production from the Monty copper/gold mine was still scheduled for late in the December quarter, with initial stope production planned for the March quarter.
This was despite development delays were experienced in the last month of the quarter as remedial ground support activities were undertaken on areas where poorer ground was intersected, and pumping capacity was installed to cater for expected water in-flows.
Monty could deliver about 70 000 t of copper, 21 000 oz of gold and 288 000 oz of silver over a three-year period.