Kirkland Lake Gold’s Fosterville mine to achieve record quarterly production in 4Q18
Published by Claire Cuddihy,
Assistant Editor
Global Mining Review,
On Friday last week, Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (Kirkland Lake Gold) announced that the company’s Fosterville mine is on track for record quarterly production in 4Q18, with full year 2018 production now expected to exceed 330 000 oz vs current guidance of 300 000 - 310 000 oz. Fosterville’s strong 4Q18 performance largely reflects higher than expected grades and the advancement of two additional stopes from the high grade Swan Zone into the mine’s 4Q18 production plan. Based on the improved outlook for Fosterville, the company now anticipates that full year 2018 consolidated production will exceed the current target range of 655 000 - 670 000 oz.
On a quarter-to-date basis, the mill grade at Fosterville in 4Q18 has averaged over 35.0 g/t, well above target levels for the quarter. The outperformance largely relates to increased operating development activity around the Swan zone and higher than planned grades from development tonnes processed. In addition, recent stope production from both the Swan and Eagle zones achieved substantially higher than expected grades. With increased operating development metres being completed, the company has added two Swan zone stopes to the mine plan for 4Q18, which is also expected to contribute to increased levels of production.
Tony Makuch, President and CEO of Kirkland Lake Gold, commented: “Fosterville is clearly firing on all cylinders heading towards the end of the year, with 4Q18 production on track to easily beat the current production record of 90 618 oz, achieved last quarter. We continue to see significant grade outperformance from stopes in both the Swan and Eagle zones. We have also benefited from higher than expected grades when processing development tonnes taken from around the Swan Zone and have been able to add two Swan stopes to the 4Q18 production plan based on development metres completed. The higher than expected grades from both development and run-of-mine production, along with the exceptionally high grades reported from recent drilling results, provide confirmation that the presence of high-grade quartz veins with visible gold is more prolific than estimated in the current block model. Higher than planned grades are leading to increased levels of production in 2018 and are expected to favourably impact production levels in both 2019 and 2020.
Strong results at Fosterville during 4Q18, as well as a solid performance from our Canadian operations to date in the quarter, are positioning us to end 2018 with total production for the full year exceeding our current target range of 655 000 -670 00 oz.”
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/finance-business/03122018/kirkland-lake-golds-fosterville-mine-to-achieve-record-quarterly-production-in-4q18/
You might also like
Taking Control With Artificial Intelligence
Jürgen Kern, Mario Gerards, and Michael Panholzer, ANDRITZ, examine how adopting AI-based control systems in the filtration process can result in higher reliability and lower operating costs.