PERTH (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed copper miner Mawson West has told delegates at the Africa Downunder conference that the company was on track to increase copper output to 22 000 t/y by the end of the year.

MD Bruce McFadzean said on Thursday that the company was looking to increase output from its Dikulushi mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“We hit 10 386 t of copper concentrate in the opening half of the year, plus 925 000 oz of silver, and are on target to produce 20 000 t to 22 000 t of copper by December 31, in line with our current guidance,” McFadzean said.

Openpit mining, which was completed last month, would deliver sufficient ore stockpiles to allow for processing to continue until late in the fourth quarter, as the company worked to transition the mine to an underground operation.

“We expect to complete our studies into the planned underground operation in the coming December quarter, focused on mining Dikulushi’s deeper high-grade levels within the deposit, including significant silver credits,” he said.

“Our planning for re-entry into former underground workings is well advanced but will comprise our first such mining operations in what we see as an average 9% high grade copper orebody, which we wish to optimise in our extraction scheduling.”

McFadzean said the underground campaign had the potential to extend Dikulushi’s mine life beyond 2014, for only around A$5-million capital expenditure.

“The underground orebody is open at depth, the existing decline and drives are in sound condition and we will be doing targeted underground exploration drilling to support reserves growth,” McFadzean said.

He said Mawson West had now reached a point where it had substantially derisked its second growth project, Kapulo, 124 km north-east of Dukulushi.

“While we had slowed expenditure on it last year in line with our cash generation, we now expect to commence commissioning of the process plant in the March quarter next year,” he said.

Kapulo has proved and probable reserves of 3.6-million tonnes at 3.6% copper and 8.3 g/t silver, with Mawson West looking at production rates of 20 000 t of copper a year and a life-of-mine of more than 10 years.