30th Nov 2015 11:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - Xtract Resources PLC Monday said it made "excellent progress" on carrying out its new development plan for the Chepica gold and copper mine in Chile in the fourth quarter of 2015 and said it will provide a more detailed update in the near future.
The project, which is comprised of the Chepica and Colin prospects, remains on track to hit its targets in the fourth quarter of 2015 and is still set to lead to the resources at the Colin prospect being upgraded in the first quarter of 2016.
Overall, the company said it has milled 5,770 tonnes of ore at the project, part of its plan to mill 11,999 tonnes of ore in total during the fourth quarter.
The plant at the mine is currently processing the ore coming from the underground mining operations, but is also processing stockpiled ore. In addition to the milled ore, Xtract has accumulated an ore stockpile of 6,480 tonnes which will continue to be trucked to the plant and be processed.
"Our new development plan is on target and we have now not only fully developed the two reefs on 5 level at the Colin prospect, but we have also opened up reefs on 4 and 6 level. Together with the tons that the reef development and the stoping of the two reefs on 5 level will generate we are confident of achieving our tonnage target for the quarter," said Chief Executive Jan Nelson.
"In addition we have also built up a significant ore stockpile on surface that feeds into the mill in addition to production from underground," he added.
A reef is a rock, or sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water.
Xtract said it has developed two reefs on level five at the Colin prospect that are now ready for stoping operations, which is when miners excavate a series of steps or layers in the ground or rock so it can break up the ore and transport it to surface.
The Connie-1 reef has grades of 3.4 grammes of gold per tonne of ore over a width of 3.58 metres over a strike length of 75.0 metres, whilst the Connie-2 reef has grades of 3.06 grammes of gold per tonne of ore over a width of 3.0 metres over a strike length of 45.0 metres.
The two reefs will provide 7,000 tonnes of ore for stoping operations, the company said.
From level five, the company is working upward and downward in its development. The incline development to level four and the decline development to level six will both begin in December.
At the Chepica prospect at the mine, Xtract said it has developed the decline from surface to a depth of 90.0 metres and support is currently being installed inside from the entrance of the development.
Xtract said it will provide the "key metrics" for the fourth quarter "early in the new year" and said it will provide an update on the Manica acquisition and on the O'Kiep, Caroulsberg and Concordia copper dumps "in the coming weeks".
That will be followed by the resources at the Colin prospect being upgraded in the first quarter of 2016.
Xtract shares were down 2.1% to 0.186 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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