Australian resources exploration and development company Group 6 Metals has provided an update on the operational activities at its wholly owned Dolphin tungsten mine.
The Dolphin tungsten mine is located near Grassy, a town on the south-east coast of King Island, an island in the Bass Strait between Victoria and Tasmania. After being closed for three decades, the mine officially re-opened in late August.
Now, Group 6 Metals has confirmed that following the start of drill and blast activities at the Dolphin open pit in early August, blast size and frequency has steadily increased over September, with key monitoring parameters remaining below regulatory requirements and is in line with community expectations.
During August, 16,374 tonnes of ore and about 120,000 bank cubic metres of surveyed waste material was mined, and the process team at the mine also continued to work on optimising the process plant throughput and performance.
Rectifications were made to the crusher circuit which improved throughput of run of mine ore and to the dressing circuit that resulted in an improvement in the concentrate quality.
As a result, the plant processed 15,031 dry metric tonnes of ore – a 20 per cent increase from the previous month.
“Significant progress was made during the month on mine production with increasing blast frequency in the Dolphin pit,” Group 6 Metals managing director and chief executive officer Keith McKnight said.
“It is pleasing that the key measurements for blasting are well below the limits allowed, and we are now recovering higher grade ore which is resulting in higher throughput through the crushing circuit and process plant.
“While plant utilisation was lower for August due a planned shutdown at the beginning of the month, and some unplanned stoppages throughout the month, steady progress has been made with plant rectification works and operating procedures, optimising the performance and improving the overall resilience of the plant.
“Tungsten concentrate has been shipped to both of our offtake partners and we look forward to ramping up production to increase shipments over the coming months.”