- Calidus Resources (CAI) recovers a record amount of gold in February from its Warrawoona operation in Western Australia
- Gold production for the month was equal to 180 ounces per day, or 66,000 ounces annualised
- Mining achieved movement of 455,000 bank cubic metres, and the mill operated at 300 tonnes per hour — six per cent above CAI’s estimated blend throughput rates
- The company’s Managing Director, Dave Reeves, says the project is improving in all aspects, providing a “solid base for a long-term, high-margin operation”
- CAI shares are up 6.67 per cent to 24 cents at 10:57 am AEDT
Calidus Resources (CAI) recovered a record amount of gold in February from its Warrawoona operation in Western Australia.
Over the month, CAI processed 182,000 tonnes of ore at a reconciled grade of 0.89 grams per tonne, with 5,005 ounces of gold recovered.
This is equal to 180 ounces per day or 66,000 ounces annualised — a slight increase from last month and a steady rise since October when annualised ounces were just under 40,000.
The company points out that these numbers were achieved despite February being a shorter month and the incidence of a one-day mill maintenance shutdown.
Mining also achieved the budgeted movement of 455,000 bankable cubic metres, and the mill operated at 300 tonnes per hour, which, according to CAI, was six per cent above the estimated blend throughput rate.
Managing Director Dave Reeves said the project had continued to improve in all aspects of operations on a month-to-month basis.
“These continual improvements provide a solid base for a long-term, high-margin operation at Warrawoona and have allowed us to start turning our focus to the expansion projects which will take Warrawoona to 130,000 ounces per year,” Mr Reeves said.
During February, Calidus made a further $5 million repayment on its project loan facilities, reducing the outstanding balance to $97 million.
At the month’s end, the company said its guidance for the first half of this calendar year remained unchanged at 31,000 to 36,000 ounces at $2000 to $2250 per ounce.
However, as the strip ratio decreases to life-of-mine averages, combined with the increased milling performance, the company said it would be targeting average life-of-mine open-pit all-in sustaining costs of between $1700 to $1850 per ounce, which would be detailed in the guidance to be released at year-end.
CAI shares were up 6.67 per cent to 24 cents at 10:57 am AEDT.