Scotgold Resources said the opening of a second cut at its mine at Cononish in Scotland last week will transform the amount of gold it produces.
The junior accessed the new cut last week for the first time and it was, according to chief executive Phil Day, “A pivotal moment in our mine development plan, allowing us to access reserve mine gold grade more readily, which should see our gold grades increase significantly inline with our mine plan during 2022 and beyond.”
As a result, Scotgold reiterated it is on course for production to rise to an annual run rate of 17,500/t a year by mid-2022 and to hit 23,000t early in 2023.
Work was hampered by hiccoughs early in 2021 including Covid and shipping delays, but Scotland said these were worked through over the course of the year and production recently has been rising steadily.
Total gold produced n the six months to end-December was 1,508oz with a run rate at the end of the year of 9,900oz.
The miner also generated its first significant revenue from mining in the half-year at US$6.4mln, with interim losses of US$5.3mln.
“The second half of the calendar year 2021 saw us lay the foundations for growth by implementing initiatives to increase Cononish's gold recoveries and in turn improve the gold production profile of the mine,” Day added.
Cononish is Scotland’s sole producer and the UK’s largest commercial gold mine but the plan going forward is to build ScotGold into a multi-asset producer, Day said, with three initial prospects identified among its 13 licences on the Dalradian Belt in the Grampians.