Perth-based Troy Resources has overcome early mill problems at its new Karouni gold mine in Guyana and reported a series of encouraging drill intercepts, including many outside the current mine plan.
The ASX listed gold miner hit hurdles soon after its 100%-owned Karouni mine reached commercial production in February, including a prolonged wet season and damage to the mill lubrication system.
The company reported today the mill had been repaired and was now running on a sustainable basis at close to its design capacity of 114 dry tonnes per hour, with further modifications being made to improve flow rates. A more powerful conveyor drive has been installed to lift crushing rates and local authorities have recently approved shorter haul distances.
With the prolonged wet season now coming to a close, Troy also expect to make a faster transition into fresh rock from weathered ore in the Smarts open pit.
The challenges of the first few months have resulted in new guidance figures for FY17, with production now forecast at between 85,000 to 95,000 ounces and extraordinarily low C1 cash costs of between $US500 to $US600 per ounce.
If Troy hits the top end of its production range, Kourani will be not far below its original target of 100,000 to 120,000 ounces a year and is still a remarkable success story. Troy built the mine in just nine months and poured its first gold less than two years after acquiring the ground in Guyana.
In its recent June quarterly, the company reported they had restructured a finance facility with Investec on more favourable terms and paid down debt by a further $US3.85 million in the quarter.
Today’s update included good news from recent drilling programs to extend the Karouni resource. Drilling in the Smarts stage 2 pit area delineated a series of narrow, very high-grade gold veins.
The best results included two metres at 18.26 g/t gold and five metres at 6.85 g/t. These results will be factored into the mining plan, and have also encouraged follow-up drilling aimed at extending high-grade areas already mapped in the Smarts underground area.
Meanwhile, new results from a 54-hole program in the stage 4 pit area were encouraging with the bulk of the new intersections located outside the current mine plan. Best results included seven metres at 4.77 g/t and four metres at 4.29 g/t.
By Matt Birney
