PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Independence Group has reported an increase in gold, zinc and copper production during the three months to June, as the Tropicana gold project continued to ramp up and its Jaguar operation increased grades.
Independence on Monday reported that gold production from the Tropicana joint venture, in Western Australia, increased to 132 844 oz during the three months to June, up from the 120 579 oz reported in the previous quarter.
Independence’s share of this production was some 39 853 oz, with the balance of production going to gold miner AngloGold Ashanti.
The Jaguar operation, also in Western Australia, delivered 12 611 t of zinc and 2 355 t of copper during the quarter under review, compared with the 9 009 t of zinc and 1 596 t of copper delivered in the previous quarter.
The increase in production at Jaguar was achieved on the back of higher zinc and copper grades during the quarter, with the operation milling some 130 239 t of ore.
At the Long operation, also in Western Australia, nickel production declined to 2 564 t during the quarter, compared with the 2 616 t delivered in the three months to March.
Contained nickel metal in ore for the June quarter was still 7.4% higher than expectations, owing to increased run-of-mine grades, Independence said.
For the full 2015, the Tropicana mine was expected to produce between 141 000 oz and 147 000 oz of gold, while Jaguar would deliver between 40 000 t to 43 000 t of zinc and between 5 800 t and 6 500 t of copper. The Long operation, in turn, was expected to produce between 9 000 t and 10 000 t of contained nickel in the full 2015.