NQ Minerals PLC (LON:NQMI, FSE:44D) said mining and trucking operations at its Beaconsfield gold mine in Tasmania, Australia, are progressing well.
The company, which is planning to extract more than 100,000 tonnes of 3 grammes a tonne contaminated soil from the Beaconsfield wetlands as part of the environmental rehabilitation of the land, said 22,290 tonnes of material had so far been trucked to stockpiles in the processing plant area.
"Work to move the Wetlands material continues at pace at our Beaconsfield gold mine, with a fleet of 6 trucks moving the material to the Beaconsfield Processing Plant area,” said chairman David Lenigas.
“We are having a good window with the weather and plan to create a significant stockpile at the plant area. Further updates on tonnes and gold grades will be made available as material information comes to hand," he added.
Under the first phase of its rehabilitation plan for Beaconsfield, the company also plans to refurbish the processing plant and hopes to restart gold production in the third quarter of this year.
Mining between 1877 and 1914 yielded 854,600 ounces of gold at an average grade of 24.3 grammes a tonne from the mine.