Toronto-listed Allied Nevada, which operates the Hycroft silver/gold mine near Winnemucca, in north-west Nevada, has failed to meet its production guidance, after metals from the Lewis leach pad were not released as expected.
The company said on Monday it had determined that a significant portion of the ore placed on the leach pad in late 2012 and early this year, when the mining rate was increasing significantly, had not been properly leached owing to insufficient solution application.
The company said on Monday it had determined that a significant portion of the ore placed on the leach pad in late 2012 and early this year, when the mining rate was increasing significantly, had not been properly leached owing to insufficient solution application.
A remediation programme for the Lewis leach pad was undertaken, and the company had now completed the first step by identifying dry areas through drilling and geophysics. Allied Nevada used drilling and metallurgical data to design a programme that would introduce process solutions directly into these dry areas.
“We expect to receive permits in August to allow us to increase solution flow to the pads. It is anticipated that we will begin to see incremental production increases from the Lewis leach pad in the fourth quarter,” the company said in a statement.
“In the last five months I have uncovered a number of previous operating errors that have set the mine back in achieving targets. While disappointing, these issues are not insurmountable and I am confident that the operating team we have in place and the steps they’re taking to remedy the issues will turn things around, though not without impacting production and sales guidance for the year.
“We are pursuing other initiatives to reduce costs, including eliminating all exploration activities and reviewing staffing requirements and corporate, general and administrative costs,” president and CEO Randy Buffington said.
Allied Nevada produced 39 195 oz of gold in the quarter ended June 30, 3% more than the 38 019 oz produced in the first quarter. Silver production declined another 30% to 132 841 oz in the quarter, after being 21% lower at 188 000 oz in the first quarter.
Gold sales totalled 41 512 oz and silver 146 303 oz.
For the first half of 2013, Hycroft produced 77 214 oz of gold and 320 841 oz of silver and sold 68 768 oz of gold and 321 069 oz of silver.
Loading of the North leach pad began on May 7, with the first solution being introduced to the pad ahead of schedule on May 15. Construction of the gyratory crusher has progressed well and we expect the crusher to be commissioned in the third quarter, as planned.
Construction of the 81 386 l/m Merrill-Crowe plant had progressed well and the first 22 712 l/m module was expected to be available in the third quarter, as planned. The second wire rope shovel had been completed and commissioning was started earlier than planned.
Allied Nevada expect full-year production and sales guidance to be in the range of 175 000 oz to 200 000 oz of gold and 900 000 oz to 1.1-million ounces of silver. The company, earlier, expected to produce between 225 000 oz and 250 000 oz of gold this year. In 2012, the company produced 136 930 oz of gold.
没有评论:
发表评论