TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – British Columbia-based Copper Mountain Mining on Thursday reported that it had completed the installation and was now commissioning the new permanent secondary crusher at its Copper Mountain mine, in the south of the province.

The project was completed on schedule and within its $40-million budget, providing the mine with Western Canada’s largest cone crusher.

Laurentian Bank Securities metals and mining analyst Christopher Chang said the start-up of the secondary crusher would be the key catalyst in the company’s operational turnaround. “As a result, we anticipate significant cash-flow growth in future periods largely driven by unit cost improvements,” the analyst wrote in a note to clients.

The company noted that the secondary crusher was tested with ore early this week, with commissioning taking place ever since.

The tie-in of the new secondary crusher into the existing 1 km overland conveyor that transfers ore from the primary crusher to the new secondary crusher and mill feed stockpile was successfully completed without any operational interruptions to the semi-autonomous grinding (SAG) mill.

With the new secondary crusher in operation, all the ore feed going into the SAG mill was minus 2 inches in size. Operations were steadily improving as the live crushed ore stockpile transitioned from minus 5.5 inches to the new reduced ore feed size of minus 2 inches.

With the new secondary crusher now in operation, the company intended to dismantle the temporary portable crushing units that were put in place over the past 12 months; this change would reduce operating costs at the site.

“We are extremely pleased with everyone’s efforts that have allowed us to bring the addition of this new secondary crusher into operation within our timeframe and budget. Our team has successfully met and overcome all the challenges to complete the project in the seven-month construction schedule. The benefits to the mine will be immediate. By reducing the size of the SAG mill feed down to minus 2 inches, we are confident that the mine will achieve our production expectations,” president and CEO James O’Rourke said.

The company’s TSX-listed stock ended the day positive, gaining 3.77% to close at C$2.75 a share. Since the start of the year, the company’s stock had gained 60%.