Hummingbird Resources PLC (LON:HUM) said on Friday its Yanfolila gold mine in Mali has been steadily ramping up towards full production since first gold was poured in December.
The plant has achieved around 96% gold recoveries consistently since the start of operations, which is higher than the design specification.
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Total gold recovered to date is 10,737 ounces of which 5,483 ounces has been shipped to refiners.
In the past 10 days the plant has been operating at an average of 90% design throughput capacity.
At the start of operations, the plant was processing ore from lower-grade stockpiles to ensure the performance and gold recovery were satisfactory before increasing the head grade.
Higher-grade ore is now increasingly being introduced to the plant as it is running close to name-plate capacity and recoveries remain consistently high.
"I am pleased that activity on site is steadily progressing as per the ramp-up schedule and we are on track to achieve name-plate capacity from the plant by the end of the first quarter of 2018,“ said chief executive Dan Betts.
"I am particularly happy to report on the technical performance of the plant, with recoveries over 95% already and a solid performance of the milling circuit. This stands us in good stead as we continue to ramp up the performance of the operation."
Hummingbird begins exploration programme at Yanfolila
The group said its 2018 exploration programme at Yanfolila has started with the focus on the conversion of indicated and inferred resources to mineable reserves.
The company has more than one million ounces of resources outside the mine plan, which is being targeted for conversion into reserves.
Hummingbird plans to spend US$8-10mln on exploration this year, but not more than 15% of its operating cashflows from Yanfolila.
“The company aims to pursue an aggressive exploration strategy to extend the mine life, which will be controlled by strict financial discipline,” it said.