Dacian Gold produced 29,316oz of gold from the Mt Morgans gold mine in Western Australia during the September quarter.
It is the first full quarter in which the company has treated mined ore from Mt Morgans, which achieved first gold in March this year and was purchased by Dacian in November 2012.
The mine consists of three prospects: the underground Westralia mine area, open pit Jupiter mine area and the recently discovered Cameron Well. It also includes a recently constructed 2.5Mt/y CIL processing plant.
Dacian is ramping up towards an average steady-state ore production target of 8000 tonnes a day (tpd) at Jupiter and Westralia, split between 5000tpd and 3000tpd respectively.
Its average production rates as of the September quarter stand at 4900tpd at Jupiter and 1900tpd at Westralia.
The quarterly production result means that the company is on track to meet its 2019 production guidance target of 180,000oz–210,000oz of gold.
The site’s measured and indicated mineral resource also increased in the quarter by 11 per cent to 2.5Moz (3.5Moz total).
According to Dacian executive chairman Rohan Williams, it was a strong start to production that “enabled us to make our first debt repayment of $16.5 million during the quarter, which still leaves us with more than $80 million in the bank.
“This means we are well-funded for the aggressive exploration programs we have outlined recently aimed at delivering further growth in our mineral resource and ore reserve at Westralia and Cameron Well.”
Dacian is undertaking an exploration initiative that will comprise of 130,000 metres of drilling.