Photo by: Bloombeg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Thunderbox mine, in Western Australia, could add 20 000 oz of gold to ASX-listed Saracen Mineral Holdings' 2016 production.
The development of the mine was some three months ahead of schedule and Saracen has previously said that first gold production was anticipated during the June 2016 quarter.
To date, Saracen was on track to produce between 150 000 oz and 160 000 oz of gold from its Carosue Dam operation in 2016, after the mine delivered 38 140 oz during the first quarter ended September.
“We are set to double production to 300 000 oz/y at an all-in sustaining cost of less than A$1 075/oz,” said Saracen MD Raleigh Finlayson.
“This will result in Saracen having significant production scale, strong cash flow, no debt and long project life.”
The A$65-million Stage 1 Thunderbox openpit operation would deliver 597 000 oz of gold, over an initial mine life of four-and-a-half years and, along with organic growth at Carosue Dam, would effectively double Saracen’s gold output to about 300 000 oz/y.