30th Nov 2018 09:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - Vast Resources PLC on Friday said it saw a decrease in production from its Pickstone-Peerless gold mine in Zimbabwe and the Manaila polymetallic mine in Romania, due to the removal of oxide ore and higher pre-stripping activity.
At Pickstone-Peerless, for the quarter to the end of September, the amount of ore mined increased by 3% to 104,156 tonnes from 100,855 tonnes the prior quarter and 4% rise in ore milled.
However, gold production fell by 8.0% to 6,397 ounces from 6,955 ounces in the second quarter, as did gold sold, at 6,519 ounces from 7,087 ounces.
Vast said the fall in production was in line with its strategy to ensure that no oxide ore is left behind in the pit, as processing both the oxide and sulphide ore is less efficient, with recoveries sub-optimal. Once the oxide ore is gone, the company will focus on the higher-grade sulphide ore.
At Manaila, the amount of ore mined fell by 8% quarter-on-quarter to 23,955 dry tonnes from 26,022 the quarter before, and ore milled dropped by 15% to 23,488 dry tonnes from 27,497.
Copper concentrate production fell by 32% quarter-on-quarter to 615 dry tonnes, and the copper concentrate grade fell to 15.8% from 17.9% in the prior quarter.
Zinc concentrate production plunged by 68% to 48 dry tonnes from 151 in the second quarter, but there was a marginal increase in zinc concentrate grade to 35.1% from 34.8%.
The fall in Manaila production was due to high levels of pre-stripping with the majority of available equipment put into waste stripping activity, Vast said.
This process has been prevalent throughout 2018 and is expected to continue for the rest of the year. The cumulative impact has placed the mine behind schedule in meeting volume requirements in the offtake and funding agreement signed with Mercuria Energy Group in March.
"Our primary focus is on providing the means through which to ensure long term, consistent and reliable production at our operating assets both in isolation, and importantly, in the context of our growing development portfolio," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Prelea.
"This is a particularly notable when considering the development objectives that we have in place at Manaila and the Carlibaba extension and metallurgical complex, which we believe will radically transform throughput, grade and efficiency of our operations," Prelea added.
Shares in Vast Resources were down 9.8% at 0.42 pence on Friday.
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