Galantas Gold expands gold milling operations at Omagh

Galantas Gold Corporation reported an expansion of gold milling operations at the Omagh, Northern Ireland processing plant on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the plant, which produces a gold and silver concentrate using a non-toxic, froth-flotation process, was running on a batch basis from a stockpile of underground vein material plus additional feed produced from on-vein development operations.

Milling operations were expected to continue on an extended day shift basis for the remainder of the quarter.

Extended day shift operations were planned to continue until late in the second quarter, Galanta said, when a second milling shift was expected to be added to process increasing quantities of feed expected to be available.

Additional milling shifts were planned to be added in the third quarter.

The company said current expectations were that the private placing in December last year provided sufficient financial resources to bring operations to a monthly cash positive position before the end of 2019.

Target production was for between 2,000 and 2,500 troy ounces of gold in concentrate per month, planned to be achieved in 2020 or 2021.

That would be in line with the production rates outlined in the technical report in July 2014.

The board said it considered that further expansion could be possible, targeting 50,000 ounces of gold per year, though it said any expansion would be dependent on - and driven by - the definition of additional resources, for which hard targets were already “well identified” and funded by part of profits generated from production.

On-vein development on the 1084 level was also continuing, Galantas said, with 32 metres of vein drive completed.

The main decline development tunnel had reached the 1072 level, and a 58 metre cross-cut to intersect the Kearney vein was currently in progress.

Galantas said the main decline tunnel was now 423 metres in length, and the total of all underground drivages exceeded 1136 metres.

The decline and mine development had been designed for long term, large scale production - not only along strike and at depth on Kearney Vein, but from the other parallel veins, such as Joshua Vein.

For most of the rest of the year, the board said the increased quantities of processing feed would be sourced from multiple on-vein development headings, with mining between levels - or stoping - expected by or before early 2020.

Ground conditions had notably improved as the mine continued towards deeper levels - a feature the board ascribed to changes in rock stress conditions influenced, at higher levels, by the open pit excavation.

The mine employed a “robust” ground control procedure using rockbolts, mesh and shotcrete to engineered designs, with Galantas noting that a “high safety standard” was being maintained.

Currently, 11 or more tunnel faces were routinely drilled, blasted, excavated and supported per week, with nil lost time accidents since the start of underground working.

“This is an exciting time for Galantas,” said president and chief executive officer Roland Phelps.

“We have been able to put around half of the December 2018 placing funds to work and the benefits of that are now starting to accrue.”

Phelps said the firm was continuing to invest in safety and productivity improvements, with the goal of becoming Ireland's “premier, ecologically-secure” gold producer.

“The works have been achieved for costs generally in-line with those anticipated, which is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of the Omagh team.”