By Ian McConnell
SCOTGOLD Resources declared yesterday it had been able to access higher-grade ore zones “far quicker than anticipated” at its Cononish gold and silver mine near Tyndrum in Argyll.
But it noted a “one-off” machinery problem had hampered efforts to ramp up production, while voicing directors’ confidence that a “risk-analysis” approach would “greatly increase the reliability of the mine and process plant operations and enable more consistent runtime”.
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Scotgold is aiming for its second shipment of gold concentrate in the first half of July. It said: “Gold doré sent to the refiners in May was able to be refined through normal treatment processes, providing validation of Scotgold’s process plant production.”
The firm reiterated its dual focus was to “further enhance safe production through consistency and stability of mine and process plant operations in parallel with the opening of multiple faces of ore in the underground mine itself”. It said: “The...roll-out of this strategy has enabled the company to optimise the mine design, allowing access to higher-grade ore zones far quicker than anticipated. Mining in the latter part of June was accessing ore which peaked at 40 grammes per tonne. Mining in this general zone will continue for two months and [is] expected to achieve a blended grade average above 10 grammes per tonne.”
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Mining activity continued uninterrupted throughout June, increasing the volume of ore stored on the stockpile.
Scotgold said a bearing failure in June in the process plant ball mill “hampered efforts to make significant inroads towards achieving full ramp up”. It added: “The issue is expected to be resolved in the coming days but serves to demonstrate the types of one-off issues that can impact production which are being targeted by the risk-analysis approach...This methodical approach would certainly have limited unplanned downtime arising from the bearing failure to an almost negligible level...by ensuring the purchase of critical spare parts.”
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