Griffin increases output 10 Feb 2011 09:30
…at Caijiaying despite suspension
Griffin Mining increased production at its Caijiaying zinc-gold mine in China in 2010 despite operations being suspended for almost four months from September. The company said 389,496 tonnes of ore was processed, compared to 276,880 tonnes in 2009 - a 40.6% increase - and 22,044 tonnes of zinc metal in concentrate was produced, compared to 17,167 tonnes in 2009. It said 7,067 ounces of gold in concentrate was produced, compared to 3,726 ounces in 2009 - a 90% increase - and 157,679 ounces of silver in concentrate was produced, compared to 89,222 ounces in 2009. It also said 690 tonnes of lead in concentrate was produced, compared to 500 tonnes in 2009, a 38% increase. The company said commissioning of the newly expanded processing facilities to process in excess of 750,000 tonnes of ore per annum has been virtually completed. And it said mining and haulage of ore has also been increased to meet the expanded processing capacity of the mill. Chairman Mladen Ninkov said: "Despite the suspension of activities at Caijiaying in September through early December following the deaths of two employees of the mining contractor, Caijiaying still managed to outperform what was achieved in 2009."With increasing metal prices, the completion of the plant upgrade and a full year of operations in front of us, I am looking forward to significantly better results in 2011." [StockMarketWire.com ]