PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Thalanga zinc project, in Queensland, has produced its first copper, lead and zinc concentrate, ahead of schedule and budget.
ASX-listed Red River Resources MD Mel Palancian said on Monday that the start of production at Thalanga, ahead of schedule and under budget, was an outstanding achievement for the company.
“We acquired the Thalanga project in 2014, and to be restarting production with zinc at ten-year highs is an outstanding result for our shareholders.”
Plant and site rehabilitation activities started in January this year, and Palancian said that full commissioning started at the beginning of September, and first ore was fed into the circuit on September 6.
Commercial production is expected to restart before the end of the calendar year.
The project, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012, is expected to produce an average 21 400 t/y of zinc, 3 600 t/y of copper, 5 000 t/y of lead, 2 000 oz/y of gold and 370 000 oz/y of silver in concentrate over an initial five-year mine life.