Hummingbird Resources PLC (LON:HUM) said it has poured first gold at the Yanfolila Gold Mine in southern Mali from the carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit on time and on budget.
The company will now turn its focus to completing commissioning and ramping up to commercial production. It is targeting 130,000 ounces of gold in the first full year of operations.
“Producing first gold from Yanfolila is Hummingbird's most significant achievement to date and we have delivered it on time and on budget,” said chief executive Dan Betts.
“All major elements of the plant are working to specification; including the crushing, milling and detox circuits, with early recoveries from the CIL circuit showing around 95%, which is excellent in terms of start-up performance.”
The initial pour was from early low loaded carbon withdrawn from the circuit to test the elution and electrowinning circuits.
Carbon loaded to design specification of more than 2,000 parts per million has been drawn from the CIL circuit and is currently undergoing elution ahead of further ongoing production.
Betts added: “"Looking forward to 2018, Hummingbird is committed to not only delivering name-plate production at Yanfolila but also demonstrating the growth potential of Yanfolila through the continued conversion of already discovered Resources, of which there are over 1 million ounces outside the current mine plan, to mineable Reserves.”