Last checked at 8 Apr 2015 07:00
8 April 2015
Xtract Resources Plc
("Xtract" or "the Company")
Chepica Mine: Milling Capacity Increased to 10,000 tonnes / month
Xtract Resources Plc (AIM:XTR) has increased the monthly milling capacity at the Chepica Gold and Copper Mine ("Chepica") in Chile from 6,000t/month to 10,000t/month through the installation and commissioning of a new ball mill. In addition the two current mills have been upgraded with rubber linings to improve milling efficiency.
· Installation complete and commissioning of a new ball mill with a capacity of 4,000t/month
· New rubber linings installed in the two current operating ball mills
· Additional tertiary crushers installed to improve grinding capacity
· Total cost of new mill installation and other improvements of US$300,000
Chepica now has three operational ball mills with a total combined milling capacity of 10,000t/month. This upgrade has increased capacity and the third mill provides us with further flexibility at the mine with regards to different sources of ore and should limit plant stoppage due to scheduled maintenance work. The increased milling capacity will ensure the mine is on target to treat the required volume to deliver significant profit margin by the end of June 2015.
Jan Nelson, CEO, said: "Production is building steadily at the Chepica mine and with the increased milling capacity the mine is on track to return to profitability in April. Development is progressing well and stoping operations will start by the end of June. Exploration work is also progressing well at Colin and Salvadori and the Company starts Q2 with consistent gold and copper production and exciting exploration opportunities."
Enquiries:
Xtract Resources Plc | Jan Nelson, CEO
| +44 (0)20 3416 6471
|
Cenkos Securities plc | Derrick Lee / Nick Tulloch | +44 (0)131 220 6939 |
Beaufort Securities | Elliot Hance
| +44 (0)20 7382 8300 |
St James's Corporate Services | Phil Dexter
| +44 (0)20 7796 8647 +44 (0)7798 634398 |
Gable Communications | Justine James xtract@gablecommunications.com | +44 (0)20 7193 7463 +44 (0)7525 324431 |
About Xtract Resources
Xtract (AIM:XTR) is a gold and copper exploration, production and development company with projects in Chile and South Africa.
In Chile, the Chepica Gold and Copper Mine is located 300km south of Santiago near the town of Talca. The Mine is in production and in March the Company opened up a major gold bearing reef which management envisages will be mined as a stripping programme from surface which would be a low cost operation and impact positively on the grades recovered from the mine.
In South Africa, Xtract acquired the O'Kiep and Carolusberg copper sulphide dump projects in March 2015. Located within 30km of Springbok in the Northern Cape Province, with 33.8Mt of sulphide copper tailings material on surface, the priority is carry out drilling, sampling and metallurgical work in order to commission a feasibility report.