Sumatra Copper: Shrink stoping commences at Belinau underground mine
Wednesday, September 6 2017 - 02:54 AM WIB
ASX-listed Sumatra Copper & Gold plc said on Wednesday that shrink stoping has commenced at the Belinau underground mine in the Tembang gold-silver operations located in southern Sumatra.
?Shrink stoping has commenced at the Belinau underground mine from Level 9 upwards. Shrink stoping is a highly selective mining method that minimizes dilution and provides high value ore to the mill,? the company said in an update statement of the Tembang gold-silver project.
A broken rock inventory will be built over coming months and drawn once the stope reaches the next level. It is planned to have 4 stopes operating by year end and 8 stopes operating simultaneously by the end of the March 2018 quarter.
The company said that decline development has advanced through Level 10 and is currently half way to Level 11 with all necessary dewatering infrastructure in place. Two exploration drill drives will be established between Levels 11 and 12 (the current base of planned development) to drill for depth extensions to the orebody. Two specialized diamond drill rigs have been ordered for this program.
Meanwhile, the company said open pit mining at Berenai is now progressing satisfactorily following the mud removal, although waste stripping is slightly behind schedule. Approximately 16,000 ounces AuEq is forecast to be mined from Belinau up to the June 2018 quarter.
Open pit preparatory work has commenced at Buluh, located adjacent to the recently completed Siamang pit, which will be developed by year end when waste movements from Berenai reduce.
The process plant continues to perform well, with the recent addition of air to the leach tanks resulting in gold recoveries of ~95 percent versus a budget of 91 percent and silver recoveries of 90 percent versus a budget of 77 percent.
The company said its current production guidance of 30,000 - 40,000 oz AuEq for calendar year 2017 as disclosed in the June 2017 Quarterly Report was dependant on the commencement of stoping at Belinau.
The company said it now anticipates full year production to be at the lower end of this range with December 2017 quarter production expected to reach 10,000 oz AuEq. Full year production guidance for 2018 is anticipated to be 40,000 - 50,000 oz AuEq.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak