PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Nickel miner Western Areas has bumped up production during the first quarter ended September to produce 6 660 t of nickel, up 380 t from the previous quarter.
Mill production was also up by 175 t on the previous quarter to 6 511 t.
Western Areas on Friday reported that its Flying Fox operation produced 65 097 t of ore during the quarter, at an average grade of 5.2% nickel for 3 384 t of nickel. This was slightly down from the 3 479 t produced in the previous quarter as head grade declined slightly.
The Spotted Quoll mine produced 68 446 t of ore, at 4.8% nickel for 3 276 t of nickel, up 475 t from the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the Cosmic Boy concentrator processed 153 474 t of ore, at an average grade of 4.7%, which produced 44 788 t of concentrate, grading 14.5% nickel for 6 511 t of nickel.
At the end of the quarter, some 118 561 t of ore was stockpiled at site, containing over 4 747 t of nickel. The current stockpile represented over two months of mill feed, and enabled Western Areas to select an optimal mill feed blend, the company said.
A total of 45 380 t of concentrate was delivered into the BHP Billiton agreement to its Kambalda and Jinchuan smelters, during the quarter, containing 6 648 t of nickel.
During the quarter, Western Areas launched an offtake tender process to replace the existing Jinchuan contract, which would be completed by the end of December.