Bissett mine expansion to go ahead

With this year’s production figures indicating signifcant cost improvements, South African miner Harmony Gold (HGMCY-Q) has approved a $6-million expansion program for its Bissett operation in eastern Manitoba.

Harmony, which bought the mine out of receivership in mid-1998, plans to increase underground haulage rates at the mine, 150 km northeast of Winnipeg. The daily production rate, now 635 tonnes, will be increased to 900 tonnes by January.

Bissett’s mill, which was restarted in October 1998, is now recovering an average of 93% of gold in the ore. The recovered grade (as opposed to the millhead grade) is around 6.2 grams per tonne. The improved recovery and general cost savings at the project have brought the average cash production cost down to US$278 per oz., which is expected to decline to US$220 per oz. once the mine is milling 900 tonnes per day.

Some of the expansion budget will be used for another round of delineation drilling, adding to the 21,600 metres drilled since the mine reopened. Harmony also plans to buy additional equipment for use on the deeper levels of the mine; below the present 32 level, operations will require only trackless equipment.

The expansion will bump up the Bissett workforce to 195 from 155.

Print


 

Republish this article

Be the first to comment on "Bissett mine expansion to go ahead"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*


By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. To learn more, click more information

Dear user, please be aware that we use cookies to help users navigate our website content and to help us understand how we can improve the user experience. If you have ideas for how we can improve our services, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to email us. By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. Please see our Privacy & Cookie Usage Policy to learn more.

Close