Group 6 Metals has broken numerous monthly records at its Dolphin tungsten mine near Grassy, a town on the south-east coast of King Island, Tasmania.
The operation has set monthly records for the number of ore mined, ore processed, tungsten concentrate produced, and the amount of tungsten sold.
In March, the Dolphin mine extracted a record 49,609 tonnes (t) of ore, with an average tungsten oxide (WO3) grade of 0.48 per cent. A total of 98,521 bank cubic metres of waste material were also excavated.
The operation produced record monthly throughput of 43t per hour and a plant utilisation of 77 per cent, which resulted in 24,515 dry metric tonnes being processed. This was a 44 per cent increase from February’s throughput.
About 97 dry tonnes of tungsten concentrate were also produced with an average grade of 60 per cent WO3, with 93 dry tonnes of concentrate being shipped at a lower grade of 59 per cent WO3.
Furthermore, Group 6 Metals produced 5678 metric ton units during March, a 23 per cent increase from February. This resulted in record sales comprising 6335 metric ton units, which was an 83 per cent increase from February’s sales.
“March results have seen significant improvements across all facets of the operation, and a number of operational records have been broken,” Group 6 Metals managing director and chief executive officer Keith McKnight said.
“These improved results have been the result of a lot of hard work by our employees and contractors. The team is focused on maintaining the mining team’s momentum and improving the throughput and recoveries from the plant.
“I am looking forward to mining and processing the higher-grade ores, which will improve recoveries and, subsequently, the tungsten concentrate produced and sold.”
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