PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Another solid quarter of gold production from the Andy Well mine, in Western Australia, has placed gold miner Doray Minerals in a strong position to meet the upper end of its full-year production guidance of between 78 000 oz and 85 000 oz for the full year 2016.

The Andy Well operation delivered 20 126 oz of gold during the three months to March 31, which was a slight decline on the 21 507 oz delivered in the previous quarter.

MD Allan Kelly noted that the project had continued to deliver strong operational performance as it transitioned to a purely underground operation.

“Despite the cessation of openpit mining from the Suzie lode in the previous quarter, Andy Well was able to achieve mill throughput of 83 668 t and achieve its sixth consecutive quarter of production greater than 20 000 oz.”

Kelly added that, with mining now coming solely from underground operations, underground capital spend during the March quarter increased to add further declines and associated infrastructure to access and mine new zones of the Wilber and Judy lode orebodies.

“Access to these new zones at Wilber and Judy will allow us to continue to deliver high-grade ounces and extend Andy Well’s mine life beyond its current reserve and resource base,” said Kelly.

Meanwhile, the development of the Deflector project, also in Western Australia, was continuing apace, with Kelly saying on Friday that Doray was in the process of commissioning the crushing and grinding circuits of the processing plant.

“Progress in the development of Deflector since completing the Mutiny transaction in March last year has been rapid. With only a matter of weeks now until production begins, we are excited about the transformational impact the project will have on our company.”

The openpit operation was expected to produce 1 972 oz of gold, while the underground mine would deliver 348 592 oz of gold, over a mine life of about six years.

Underground mining and production at Deflector would start in June.