9th Oct 2008 09:00
Production Update
Hambledon Mining Plc, the AIM listed gold mining company operating in Kazakhstan, is pleased to report the following production details from its Sekisovskoye mine for the three months ended 30 September 2008.
|
July |
August |
September |
Total |
|
|
Milled tonnage (dry tonnes) |
55,483 |
35,685 |
70,938 |
162,106 |
|
Head grade (gm/t) |
1.32 |
1.50 |
1.32 |
1.36 |
|
Contained gold (gm) |
73,074 |
53,431 |
93,516 |
220,021 |
|
Contained gold (oz) |
2,349 |
1,718 |
3,007 |
7,074 |
|
Recovery % |
76.0 |
77.5 |
72.8 |
75.0 |
|
Recovered gold (oz) |
1,786 |
1,332 |
2,190 |
5,308 |
|
Recovered silver (oz) |
3,422 |
2,313 |
2,961 |
8,696 |
Comment:
The good progress made in July was interrupted in August as commissioning of the new tailings dam was delayed and other changes were made to the process plant, resulting in shut downs of the mills for a total of two weeks. The result for August was therefore disappointing but creditable in the circumstances. September confirmed the improvements which we are making, and the milling circuit in particular is now operating well. The mills have been tested for an extended period at some 10% higher than the planned capacity and will be operated at this rate continuously once the new cone crusher is commissioned in November.
The grades mined during the quarter were lower than the average expected over the life of the open pit but higher grade areas are scheduled to be accessed during the current quarter. As already mentioned in our interim results, the metallurgical recovery has been lower than the 92% indicated by test-work. Various causes have been identified and improvements have already been made which will impact on the current quarter.
Enquiries:
Hambledon Mining plc
Charles Zorab
+44 20 7233 1462
Fairfax I.S. PLC
Ewan Leggat
+44 20 7598 5368
Related Shares:
Altyngold