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Frank Giustra-backed Fiore Gold (TSXV: F) reported growing production from its Pan Mine in White Pine County, Nevada and announced management’s expectation for the trend to continue in the coming months.
According to a corporate press release, Pan Mine’s production in October totaled 425,634 tonnes of ore and 473,803 tonnes of waste, with the mine now maintaining a consistent mining rate of 14,000 tonnes per day of ore. Gold production for October was 1,809 ounces, a significant increase over the 1,602 ounces produced in September.
“As in any heap leach operation, increases in gold production will lag behind ore production, so we expect to see further increases in gold production going forward as leaching moves towards steady state, and as ore stacking begins on the new Phase IIA leach pad expansion,” the statement reads.
Fiore is projecting gold production of 35-40,000 ounces in fiscal 2018, with gold production weighted towards the second half of FY2018 as higher-grade ore is mined.
The company also revealed that work on its Phase II Leach Pad expansion is nearing completion.
Tim Warman, Chief Executive Officer, said he was optimistic about the firm’s outlook: “We are especially pleased with the progress on the new leach pad expansion, which will double our leach pad capacity and should improve overall leach performance.”
Early in 2018, Fiore will use a portion of the new leach pad to construct two test cells of approximately 10,000 tons each in order to compare the leaching characteristics of crushed vs. r of mine ore. “The testing will utilize the crusher currently on site to produce overliner material. Previous laboratory-scale tests have suggested that the addition of a crusher circuit would increase gold recoveries at Pan, particularly from the harder, more silicified North Pit ore. Results from this field test should be ready by mid-2018, and will help determine if the addition of a crushing circuit is warranted,” the miner explained in the media brief.
Exploration work aimed at increasing the resource and reserve base at Pan is also ongoing, with a number of drill targets identified proximal to both the North and South Pits. Drilling is expected to commence in early 2018.
The miner says that its ultimate goal is to build on the existing operations at the Pan Mine to become a 150,000 ounce/year gold producer.
