“A functioning mill is the first technical hurdle in a mine’s operation, and that hurdle has been overcome at Kombat,” CEO Jed Richardson mentioned in a information launch.
Groups labored by way of the vacation interval to finish the set up of filter presses and run ore by way of the total manufacturing course of to attain this milestone on time, the corporate mentioned.
The focus produced exceeded administration expectations, demonstrating the mix of recent tools from Xinhai and refurbished tools from the previous operation had been working properly.
The feed materials for this preliminary manufacturing was mentioned to ivolve sub-optimal decrease grade ore, whereas grind measurement, residence instances and reagent use had been optimized. The mill achieved “passable” grades approaching 20% copper and over 600 grams per tonne silver, “properly forward of expectation at this stage of start-up,” mentioned Richardson.
Manufacturing continues, constructing as much as first focus shipments towards the top of January.
In September 2021, Trigon announced a brand new Kombat mineral useful resource of 39.1 million tonnes (together with inferred assets), up greater than 450% from the 7 million tonnes beforehand calculated in 2018.
The Kombat mine, situated within the Otavi Mountain area, is a historic mine that operated from 1962 to 2008, throughout which it produced 12.46 million tonnes of ore grading 2.6% copper.
Sprott-backed (20%) Trigon lately expanded its challenge portfolio by buying the Silver Hill copper-silver challenge in Morocco.
Namibia additionally has the Tsumeb smelter, operated by Dundee Valuable Metals (TSX: DPM). Tsumeb is expected to be at or under the low finish of the steering vary of 200,000-220,000 tonnes for 2021.
In accordance with Fitch Options, the beginning of manufacturing coincides with a bleaker outlook for copper costs in 2022, which retains a bearish outlook for the steel’s value trajectory. It expects common copper costs to reasonable from $9,285 per tonne in 2021 to $9,200 per tonne this 12 months and $8,700 per tonne in 2023, earlier than additional tapering to $8,400 per tonne in 2025.
At C45.5c per share, Trigon equities buying and selling in Toronto is up greater than 22% over the previous 12 months, capitalizing it at C$71.4 million ($56m).
