Gold production is rapidly ramping up at the new Greenstone Gold Mine, south of Geraldton.
Equinox Gold, the Vancouver mid-tier miner, offered an operations update on its fledgling open-pit operation 275 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.
During the third quarter, Greenstone produced 42,500 ounces, up 162 per cent from the previous quarter.
As of Sept. 30, the mine has produced 59,000 ounces since the first gold pour on May 22.
The company is aiming at a year-end gold target of between 110,000 and 130,000 ounces, down from a previous set target of between 175,000 and 205,000 ounces due to some growing pains during the ramp-up process.
New haul trucks are being brought into service as mining rates steadily increase from 76,000 tonnes per day in July to 87,000 tonnes in August to 125,000 tonnes in September with one record day of 180,000 tonnes last month. The momentum continues into October with the daily mining rate averaging 145,000 tonnes per day toward a fourth quarter, by year’s end, of 170,000 tonnes.
On the plant crushing-and-grinding side, operations dipped from 17,500 tonnes a day of throughput in August to 13,200 tonnes in September, prompting a couple of brief shutdowns to address wear-and-tear issues during this ramp-up process, but Equinox is confident the plant is capable of operating at is full run rate of 27,000 tonnes per day.
The processed grade during the third quarter averaged 1.15 grams per tonne gold with average recovery of 80 per cent.
"Since commencing operations, the Greenstone Mine has demonstrated good progress with both mining and processing rates increasing substantially during Q3 and into October,” said Equinox president-CEO Greg Smith in an Oct. 16 news release. “The Greenstone team is focused on systematically ramping up both mining rates and plant throughput during the fourth quarter as the mine continues to progress toward design capacity.”
On the health and safety side, the company reports one lost-time injury since mine construction started in the fall of 2021.
