Pantoro (ASX:PNR) has produced 30% more gold during the December quarter compared to the prior quarter at its flagship Nicolsons gold operations in Western Australia.
9,599 ounces of gold were produced during the quarter including a record 4,627 ounces of gold from the month of December.
All three open pits have been developed and are now consistently producing ore with a quarter of the mill feed in December attributable to the new Rowdies and Wagtail pits.
The production ramp up to 50,000 ounces per annum run rate is advancing well with further production improvements expected during the upcoming quarters.
Paul Cmrlec, managing director, commented: “The quantity of ore processed during December is approaching our targeted throughput rate of 200,000 tonnes per annum, and the sustained improvement during the last six months is a credit to the site team.
“Importantly, gold recovery at these increased throughput rates has remained above 96%.”
Background
The 100% owned Halls Creek Project in Western Australia hosts the producing Nicolsons underground gold mine and the Rowdies and Wagtail open pits.
First underground production of gold was achieved in September 2015 and the production profile continues to grow as Nicolsons looks to become one of the lowest cost, highest grade underground gold mines in Australia.
The Nicolsons underground mine has consistently overcalled the reserve at an average of 186% on the first three levels mined.
Mining at the Wagtail North, Wagtail South and Rowdies pits commenced during the second half of 2016.
Pantoro are also conducting exploration at prospects within the Halls Creek project to identify new high grade gold deposits outside the known JORC resources.
Analysis
December was a solid quarter of production for Pantoro who continues to manage the ramp up process successfully at Nicolsons.
The increasing availability of open pit ore combined with ongoing production from Nicolsons is expected to see further production increases in the upcoming quarters.
While mining continues from the Nicolsons underground mine and open pits, Pantoro will continue to extract value from its many drill ready targets in this under-explored region.
Pantoro shares are trading up 170% over the past 12 months, currently priced at $0.195.
At the end of December, the company had $11.7 million cash.