Artemis now expects to feed first ore to the ball mill in the next few weeks and continues to target first gold pour before year end.
The precious metal has surged around 30% so far this year, supported by healthy central bank buying.
The Geological Bureau of Hunan Province said on Thursday that it had detected more than 40 gold veins containing an estimated 300 tons of the precious metal.
For the next stage of the Fourmile project, Barrick plans to start a three-year prefeasibility study in 2025.
