Lac des les output rises

Operational improvements and higher throughput rates at the Lac des les palladium mine in northwestern Ontario are translating into more metal production for North American Palladium (PDL-TO).

The mill cranked out 62,168 oz. palladium-in-concentrate plus platinum, gold, copper and nickel during the three months ended June 30. That’s 15% more than in the January-to-March period and even more than each of the preceeding quarters.

A year ago, North American Palladium fired up a new mill at a cost of $220 million. The mill was designed to process 15,000 tonnes of ore daily, or six times more than the original one, reflecting the expansion of reserves in 1999.

However, the milestone became overshadowed by operational problems which have since been resolved by replacing the pebble crusher with a larger one, contracting-out fine-ore crushing, and installing a new liner in the semi-autogenous mill. Throughput and recovery rates remain below expectations, but Lakefield Research is attempting to raise them with the assistance of a pilot plant.

Nevertheless, the mill processed 1.3 million tonnes during the recent quarter — 5% more than in the previous quarter and within 7% of design specifications. Headgrades and recovery rates also improved, to 2 grams per tonne and 76%, respectively.

At last report, reserves at Lac des les stood at 93.5 million tonnes grading 1.53 grams palladium, plus platinum, gold, copper and nickel. The estimate is based on a cutoff grade of 0.7 gram palladium and a palladium price of US$400 per oz.