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(Alliance News) - Australia's Resolute Mining Ltd on Friday confirmed the sulphide roaster at a Malian mine is now fully up and running.
The roaster at Syama was taken offline in early October due to the detection of a crack in the main external shell. Repairs finished at the start of December.
It is now going at full capacity, Resolute said, and performance is as expected. Underground mining continued without interruption, it noted.
Perth-based Resolute said the loss in production will be minimal, with any volumes lost in 2019 to be regained in 2020 as production ramps up.
"The roaster repairs and associated unscheduled sulphide circuit maintenance has been a complex project which has been successfully completed efficiently and safely," said Managing Director & Chief Executive John Welborn.
The Syama sulphide circuit is now fully operational and ready to demonstrate our ambitions at Syama by delivering strong stable recoveries from consistent ore feed from the Syama Underground Mine. The significant ore stockpiles we now have available will allow us to focus on cost efficiencies with our autonomous underground mine systems rather than requiring a focus on maximising mined and hauled tonnages," Welborn added.
The CEO also said Resolute will, in 2020, be looking at how to expand both underground mining at Syama as well as the processing capacity of the sulphide circuit. It is currently operating at 2.4 million tonnes a year.
Shares were 2.3% higher on Friday in London shortly before midday at 58.83 pence each.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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