PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The construction schedule for the Deflector gold project, in Western Australia, remains on track for first openpit mining in February next year.

Underground mining at Deflector was slated to start in May 2016, while the processing plant would be commissioned in May or June.

Site work started in August and project owner Doray Minerals reported on Monday that construction activities continued at the processing plant and site administration areas, with most concrete footings now complete.

The first load of steelwork for the crushing circuit had also arrived and all pads for the site office, workshops and stores had been completed. The first accommodation units had also been installed.

Tenders for the mining of the West Lode and Central Lode openpits would be received within the next week and a preferred contractor would be appointed with the aim of mobilising to site in January.

Further, Doray said on Monday that the company was working with the Westpac Banking Corporation towards completing a new corporate finance facility by the end of October, to supplement the A$25-million raised from a recent entitlement issue and placement.

The Deflector openpit was expected to deliver 61 972 oz of gold, while the underground mine would deliver 348 592 oz of gold over a mine life of about six years.

Production had been targeted at 61 000 oz/y to 74 500 oz/y of gold and the A$67.6-million project would push Doray’s production to between 150 000 oz/y and 160 000 oz/y, with production also sourced from the Andy Well mine, in Western Australia.

Meanwhile, Doray on Monday also reported another strong quarter of production from the Andy Well mine, which produced 25 690 oz of gold in the three months to September 30, from the processing of 83 246 t of ore with an average head grade of 9.83 g/t gold.

The September quarter gold production beat the forecast by 6.5%, Doray said.

Openpit mining was continuing at the Wilber Lode Stage 2 and Suzie Lode openpits, while surface and underground drilling were also continuing at Andy Well to build on recent successes at both the Judy and Wilber Lodes.