Pantoro Ltd (ASX:PNR) produced a solid 13,385 ounces of gold in the March quarter from its 100% owned Nicolsons Gold Mine within the Halls Creek Project in Western Australia.
The quarter continues on from a similar December production figure resulting in an annualised production rate of about 55,000 ounces per annum.
Notably, this rate is expected to increase with the implementation of the Steinert ore sorter.
Aiming for 80-100,000 ounces per annum
The ore sorter will be the main driver to continued production increases during the coming year.
Pantoro is aiming for production rates of 80-100,000 ounces per annum by the end of 2018.
READ: Pantoro is a low-cost gold producer with plenty of growth opportunities
Pantoro’s managing director Paul Cmrlec said: “The Nicolsons team has again delivered another consistent operational result during the March quarter, enabling the company to make the final payment to CBA early in April.
“The operations team is clearly focussed increasing production from the Nicolsons underground mine and establishing ore supply from the soon to be developed Wagtail mine to optimise feed to the ore sorting circuit by the end of the year.
“With the company now operating debt free, we look forward to the next 12 months as a period of strong cash flow generation as we benefit from the delivery of these major projects.”
The March quarter highlighted the reliability of operations
Nicolsons' processing plant continued to operate reliably at 240,000 tonnes per annum.
56,729 tonnes were processed at an average grade of 7.96 g/t gold and an average recovery of 92.2%.
Taking the Wagtail pits underground
Works at the Wagtail open pits to establish access to underground portal positions have been completed.
Pantoro is expecting all regulatory approvals to be finalised allowing commencement of underground development at Wagtail this month.
READ: Pantoro extends gold mineralisation at Wagtail underground mine
Recent drilling programs by Pantoro continue to reveal the potential of both the Nicolsons underground mine and the new Wagtail underground mine.
A drilling program targeting the Rowdies and Wagtail ore bodies returned strong results of up to 2.34 metres at 63.12 g/t gold, including 0.9 metres at 83.65 g/t.