Gold production surges in Burnstone mine

The Canadian miner Great Basin Gold has announced that gold production from its Burnstone Mine in SA has increased for the quarter ending December 2011. Ore development metres increased by 4% to 2,900 metres.

Releasing an operational update on Monday, the miner noted that quarter-on-quarter, the square metres of stoping available at Burnstone increased by 42%.

“With the improved information on geological structures being applied to planned development, waste development meters per quarter decreased by 48% from levels reported in Q1 2011 to 1,083 metres in Q4 2011.

Quarter-on-quarter, ore development rates and production from stoping were however less than plan due to the impact of the December 2011 Christmas break as well as underground flooding of a number of development ends through fissures following an unusually high seasonal rainfall in December 2011.

Permanent water reticulation infrastructure is under construction for completion in Q2 2012, with interim measures implemented to manage the water balance in the short term, it said.

The combined development and stoping contained mined grade improved by 23% from 1.22 g/t in Q3 2011 to 1.50 g/t – the result of more low profile ore development than high profile ore development having occurred during the period.

Total production for the year came to 23,361 gold ounces, approximately 6,000 gold ounces less than the revised guidance.

The Metallurgical Plant continued to perform in-line with expectations, with the decrease in processed tonnage being a result of the lower values of ore tonnes hoisted from underground.

The Nevada operations produced 20,727 gold equivalent ounces from trial mining activities during the quarter and 97,610 Au eqv oz for the full year of production, compared to an average annual forecast of 100,000 Au eqv oz for the year.

A similar performance is expected in 2012.

The company noted that in January SA’s Department of Water Affairs granted a water licence that authorises the completion of the 88 kV power line between the Grootvlei power station and the Burnstone mine that will provide a permanent feed of 51 MVA power to site. The authorisation also allows for the completion of a second line that will provide security of supply to the mine.

Great Basin Gold intends to release its financial results for the year ended December 2011 by the end of March 2012, at which time the production and financial position guidance for 2012 will be updated. – I-Net Bridge. – BullionStreet

Tags: Burnstone mine, Gold, Gold mining, Gold mining companies, Gold mining industry

Posted by admin on Feb 8 2012. Filed under Gold mining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry