The Castle Mountain open-pit, heap-leach mine and mill in San Bernardino Cty., Calif., continue to pump out cash for Viceroy Resources (TSE) and MK Fold (NASDAQ), 75-25 owners of the project.
The mine produced 112,532 oz. gold at a cash cost of US$179 per oz. over the nine months ended Dec. 31, 1995. This was down from the 125,870 oz. produced for US$160 per oz. during the same period in 1994.
The drop in output and increase in cost are due to lower grades encountered in the bottom of the Lesley Ann pit.
Fourth-quarter production averaged 12,059 tons per day grading 0.041 oz. gold per ton, including the milling of 1,193 tons per day grading 0.14 oz. gold.
Viceroy and MK recently resolved a mining contract dispute at Castle Mountain. The agreement lowers the cash mining cost to US76 cents from US$1.23 per ton, allowing the joint venture to process lower-grade ores in the Oro Belle, Hart Tunnel and Jumbo deposits.
For the nine months ended Dec. 31, 1995, Viceroy reported record sales of $46.9 million and cash flow of $21.5 million, or 92 cents per share. The strong cash flow helped increase the company’s working capital position to $46 million.
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