Rambler Metals sees record throughput in second quarter

Copper and gold producer, explorer and developer Rambler Metals and Mining announced on Friday that, for the quarter ended 30 June, it achieved record throughput by processing 112,679 tonnes of ore from the Ming Mine through the Nugget Pond copper and gold milling facility.

The AIM-traded firm said that supported a 45% increase in saleable copper produced in concentrate, and a 10% increase in saleable gold produced in concentrate, relative to the same quarter last year.

Additionally, it said first half 2019 record throughput of 211,090 tonnes of ore from the Ming Mine and through the Nugget Pond copper and gold milling facility supported a 46% increase in saleable copper produced in concentrate, and a 32% increase in saleable gold produced in concentrate relative to the first half of 2018.

The board said the mining process improvement programme started in mid-2018, and executive management changes since then, had resulted in a consistently higher ore production rate in the second quarter, representing a 20% improvement.

Those changes had also resulted in a consistently higher rate of copper contained in ore produced in the second quarter year-on-year, representing a 47% improvement, and consistently higher development rounds per week, with 24 per week in the second quarter of 2019 compared to 23 per week at the same time last year, or a 4% improvement.

It said that, while total development rates had not changed significantly quarter-on-quarter, all of the current development was dedicated to providing ramp and level accesses to inexpensive long-hole production sources of ore, while in the second quarter of 2018, six rounds per week were dedicated to “expensive” cut and fill mining ore sources.

For the fiscal quarter ended 30 June, the Nugget Pond copper and gold milling facility achieved record throughput, having processed 112,679 dmt at a feed grade of 1.40% copper and 0.60 grammes per tonne gold during the second quarter, compared to 94,589 tonnes at a feed grade of 1.12% copper and 0.63 grammes per tonne gold a year earlier.

Daily production during the quarter averaged 1,309 dry tonnes per day, with a monthly peak of 1,339 dry tonnes per day in June.

On 22 July, the mill achieved a new one-day record throughput of 1,493 dry tonnes.

The board said that confirmed that the mill improvements would allow the facility to produce at a sustained rate at or greater than 1,250 dry tonnes per day.

Recovery of metal to concentrate was 93.7% and 68.4% for copper and gold respectively for the quarter, which was nearly unchanged from the second quarter of 2018, despite higher throughput.

During the period, the operation produced 5,425 tonnes of concentrate containing saleable metal of 1,417 tonnes of copper and 1,321 ounces of gold.

Saleable tonnes of copper increased 45% year-on-year, and ounces of gold increased 10% from the second quarter of 2018.

“This last quarter's mine and mill performance has demonstrated effectiveness of the focus on continuous improvements that were started in late 2018 and still continue,” said Rambler president and chief executive officer Andre Booyzen.

“Our staff and contractors are focussed on producing safely and exceeding production targets.

“We will keep improving mining production and the average grade of ore produced so that saleable copper production continues to increase.”

Booyzen said the company’s efforts with people and culture had brought “positive momentum” to the workforce, with low absenteeism and low staff turnover now aiding production.

“A commitment to local recruitment and training has resulted in a stable and committed workforce.”

“We have completed work ahead of schedule on our new tailings facility and are depositing tailings at Camp Pond under manual control as of July 18.”

The tailings project included some critical control components necessary to sustain milling rates in excess of 1,400 dry tonnes per day, Booyzen explained, and those would be in place and operational by 31 August.

“We have also committed to replacing some key mining equipment that has reached the end of their useful life, as well as adding to our underground fleet to enable longer hauls as we mine deeper.”