PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper junior Austral Resources Australia has started ore haulage from its new Anthill mine, in Queensland, to the Mt Kelly processing plant.
Austral told shareholders this week that Anthill ore will start processing through the Mt Kelly plant by the end of April.
Some 5 000 t of ore will be delivered in March, with 55 000 t to be delivered in April and a further 155 000 t in May.
“The first Anthill ore delivery to our processing facility represents a significant milestone achievement for the company,” said CEO Steve Tambanis.
“Ore stacking onto the heap leach pad is expected to begin in late April and first plates of Anthill copper cathode will be produced in May 2022. From July onwards, copper cathode production is expected to exceed 1 000 t/m. Rapidly increasing production and higher than forecast copper prices will combine to see healthy sales revenue from May.
“Over four-million tonnes of overburden have been moved since January 6 this year. When full scale haulage commences with 125 t road trains, each train contains sufficient copper to produce 1 t of recovered copper cathode or some $10 000 per train at current copper prices.”
Tambanis said that the company was on track to achieve a planned production rate of 10 000 t/y of copper cathode by mid-2022.