Rambler Metals upbeat after a record year for throughput

Copper and gold producer, explorer, and developer Rambler Metals and Mining announced on Friday that for the fiscal year ended 31 December, it achieved record throughput by processing 364,176 tonnes of ore from the Ming Mine through the Nugget Pond copper and gold milling facility.

The AIM-traded firm said it was the second consecutive year that it had set a new throughput record.

It confirmed that, for the 2018 fiscal year, the Nugget Pond copper and gold milling facility achieved record throughput by processing 364,176 dry tonnes at a feed grade of 1.24% copper and 0.57 grammes per tonne gold.

Annual mill throughput averaged 1,108 dry tonnes per day, with a monthly peak of 1,228 dry tonnes per day in April.

Moving into 2019, the board said that to match increased mine output, the mill had continued to push throughput and recently achieved a one-day record throughput of 1,492 dry tonnes.

It described that as “another significant milestone” for Rambler, claiming that it confirmed that incremental 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 96.3% and 70.7% for copper and gold respectively for the 2018 year, the company confirmed.

For the full year, the operation produced 15,525 tonnes of concentrate containing saleable metal of 4,187 tonnes of copper and 4,189 ounces of gold.

“2018 was a banner year for operations in several areas, including year-over-year improvements in mine output, mill throughput, concentrate production, and metal recoveries,” said Rambler president and chief executive officer Andre Booyzen.

“This growth is due to the efforts of all of our employees and contractors, who have continued to keep ‘safe production’ at the forefront of everything they do.”

Booyzen said the completion of the surface ventilation project and the continuation of the business improvement initiative that was started in June had resulted in improved production metrics from the mine operation.

“These improved KPI's from the mine operation have in turn resulted in better ore blending opportunities for the mill feed, which has positively impacted both throughput and metal recoveries.

“Additionally, the processing operations group continues to de-bottleneck the copper concentrator processing circuit to accommodate the increased production from the mine.

“Given the productivity improvements in the mine operation, which has provided access to better grade material in both the Lower Footwall Zone and the Ming Massive Sulfide deposits, we are now turning our attention to increasing the overall feed grade delivered to the mill and returning the company to positive cash flows during a time that has seen significant run up and positive outlook on long term copper price forecasts.”