(Alliance News) - Keras Resources PLC on Friday said the processing plant shipped from Shangahi, China in the fourth quarter of 2020 is now on site at the Diamond Creek phosphate mine in Utah, US, with construction underway.
The Diamond Creek mine is owned by the London-based mineral resource company's 51% subsidiary Falcon Isle Holdings LLC.
Shares in Keras Resources were up 7.0% at 0.12 pence in London on Friday.
Keras Resources said the new plant has the design capacity to process its targeted 48,000 ton per year production rate in 2024. It will increase both the installed capacity and flexibility to beneficiate a variety of organic phosphate products, and will also see a significant reduction in operating costs as the company moves away from the current toll agreements, it added.
The company said commissioning remains on schedule, and the plant is expected to be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
"Our expansion at Diamond Creek continues to progress as planned and the commissioning of the new crushing, milling and bagging facility, which will be capable of supporting our peak production rate of 48,000 tons per year, is a key component underpinning this strategy. We have a long life-of mine at Diamond Creek, with the opencast resources alone representing in excess of 60 years at the peak production rate, highlighting the long-term sustainable cash flow we anticipate being generated from this mine. We look forward to delivering further news regarding the commissioning of the processing plant and our 2021 production schedule in due course," said Chief Executive Russell Lamming.
Keras Resources completed its 2020 Diamond Creek campaign back in October, with 7,620 run-of-mine tonnes extracted including the bulk sample. This was over 50% more than what was initially planned for the first year of production, it said.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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Keras Res (KRS)