TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – NYSE- and TSX-listed Thompson Creek Metals has reported buoyant second-quarter output from its only operating asset, the Mt Milligan copper/gold mine, in British Columbia, lifting copper and gold concentrate output 26% and 62% year-on-year, respectively.

Concentrate output for Mt Milligan for the quarter ended June 30 was 396 000 dry tonnes, with 20.2-million pounds of payable copper and 599 000 oz of payable gold.

For the six months ended June, Mt Milligan produced 699 000 dry tonnes, with 35.6-million pounds of payable copper and 106 000 oz of payable gold, which represented increases of about 17% and 39%, respectively, from payable copper and gold output during the first six months of 2014.

Molybdenum sales contracted 49% quarter-on-quarter to 2.2-million pounds.

During the second quarter of 2015, the company achieved its highest average daily mill throughput on a quarterly basis of 44 940 t and averaged 49 913 t for May and June. Recoveries steadily improved during the quarter, averaging 85.5% for copper and 72.7% for gold.

President and CEO Jacques Perron on Wednesday said additional operational improvements at Mt Milligan were expected to be made during scheduled maintenance shutdowns later this year, which would impact mill availability.

“We are confident that we will continue to experience improved performance at the operation through the remainder of the year,” he added.

During the first six months of the year, the company had completed seven shipments of copper and gold concentrate, and recognised seven sales.

Thompson Creek placed its British Columbia-based Endako molybdenum mine on care and maintenance from July 1 owing to continued weakness in the molybdenum market. The company had also placed its eponymous Thompson Creek molybdenum mine, in Idaho, on care and maintenance at the end of December.

The company’s stock on Thursday fell 10% to $0.81. The company reported that the NYSE had on Monday notified it that its stock had fallen below the exhange's continued listing standard, which required the average closing price of a listed company's common stock be above $1 a share over a consecutive 30-day trading period. The stock traded at far below its lifetime high of almost $25 apiece in October 2007.

Thompson Creek intended to respond to the NYSE within ten business days with its intent to correct the deficiency. The company had six months to regain compliance with the NYSE continued listing requirements to avoid a delisting.