London-listed zinc producer Griffin Mining says it will soon start development towards mining 1.5-million tonnes of ore a year at its Caijiaying mine, in China.
It has been granted a mining licence for Zone 2, adjacent to Zone 3 that it has been mining since 2005.
The company has steadily expanded operations at the mine. In 2005, it was mining at a rate of 200 000 t/y of ore. This has increased to 900 000 t/y of ore at present.
Griffin aims to further increase the mining rate to 1.5-million tonnes of ore a year by 2022.
FD Roger Goodwin tells Mining Weekly that Zone 2 is a continuation of Zone 3, but opens up another large area, which is about the same size as the whole of Zone 3.
Owing to existing infrastructure at Zone 3, as well as a processing plant that is already equipped to process 1.5-million tonnes of ore a year, not a great deal of infrastructure needs to be added onto Zone 2.
Instead, the development will mostly involve opening up stopes.
The company had been waiting for the licence grant for Zone 2 for eight years, having increased its processing facility capability to the required 1.5-million tonnes a year six years ago. Goodwin says environmental approvals have taken a lot of time, but Griffin stands ready to bring Zone 2 into operation in about a year’s time, at a cost of about $10-million.
Zone 2 has about 20-million tonnes of resources in the inferred category, but Griffin plans to further update the resource soon.
Mining from Zone 2 and Zone 3 combined will extend the Caijiaying mine life to 2056.
Further, Griffin intends to develop the Zone 5 and Zone 8 prospects at the mine in future, while it also has the option of applying for an exploration right at a prospect 14 km north of the Caijiaying mine.