PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior AIC Mines has reported a record production of 12 565 t of concentrate during the September quarter, containing 3 402 t of copper at its Eloise mine, in North Queensland.
Concentrate production in the September quarter was up from the 2 890 t produced in the June quarter this year.
Payable copper production increased from 2 778 t to 3 276 t, with gold production also increasing from 1 515 oz to 1 820 oz, and silver production from 28 584 oz to 34 344 oz in the same period.
C1 cash costs for the September quarter were lower at A$3.24/lb sold, compared with the A$3.66/lb sold achieved in the June quarter, with all-in sustaining costs falling from A$5.63/lb to A$4.94/lb.
AIC told shareholders on Tuesday that the record production at Eloise during the quarter had been driven by record throughput on the back of significant improvements in truck availability over the past six months. Mill throughput achieved a record 179 500 t during the quarter, including a record 62 500 t in the month of September.
Looking ahead at the next quarter, AIC is targeting between 3 000 t and 3 200 t of copper and 1 500 oz of gold in concentrate. The Eloise project is currently also on track to deliver 12 500 t of copper in the full year, and 5 000 oz of gold.