TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Rio Tinto-owned miner Turquoise Hill Resources is banking on striking a financing deal for the underground expansion of the giant Oyu Tolgoi mine, in Mongolia, by year-end.
The Vancouver-headquartered company signed an underground mine development and financing plan with the Mongolian government in May, prompting both Turquoise Hill and Rio Tinto to advance project financing and update the underground feasibility study.
The company on Wednesday announced that it had recorded the highest concentrate output since operations started in 2013.
"Second-quarter production at Oyu Tolgoi was strong owing to increased throughput and high grades as the mine accessed the high-grade zone,” Turquoise Hill CEO Jeff Tygesen noted.
Concentrate output for the three months ended June 30 rose 64.6% over the preceding quarter, boosted by a 20.1% surge in throughput and higher head grades. Copper and gold in concentrates increased 64.5% and 178.1%, respectively, quarter-over-quarter.
Turquoise Hill expected to continue mining higher-grade ore during the second half of 2015, foreseeing the production of 175 000 t to 195 000 t of copper and 600 000 oz to 700 000 oz of gold in concentrate this year.
A planned two-week concentrator shutdown was currently under way at Oyu Tolgoi.