PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper miner Sandfire has reported record production during the three months to March, with its DeGrussa operation, in Western Australia, delivering 18 098 t of copper and 10 035 oz of gold during the three months to March.
This was compared with the 15 492 t of copper and 5 957 oz of gold produced in the previous three months.
In the year-to-date, the DeGrussa operation delivered 50 036 t of copper and 24 605 oz of gold.
The company told shareholders on Thursday that the increased production reflected the strong average ore grade during the quarter, while mill throughput reached its targeted rate of 1.5-million tonnes a year during the March quarter.
Underground mining at DeGrussa also progressed on schedule, with four stopes now in various stages of development and production. The underground operation maintained a targeted production rate of 1.5-million tones a year, with a total of 381 439 t of ore mined during the quarter under review.
A total of 85 369 t of plant concentrate, grading 24.4% copper, and containing some 20 867 t of copper was sold during the quarter, while gold sales totalled 10 842 oz.