Palladium production at North American Palladium‘s (PDL-T) Lac des les mine, near Thunder Bay, Ont., slipped slightly during the first three months of 2003 owing to downtime at the mill during scheduled maintenance.
During the first quarter, the mill squeezed 91,261 oz, of palladium out of 1.3 million tonnes of ore averaging 2.72 grams per tonne; the quarter’s average recovery rate was 77.3%. During the previous quarter, the mill processed produced 94,114 oz. from 1.5 million tonnes of ore grading 2.6 grams for a recovery rate of 75.1%. Still, the latest quarter’s production represents a 55% increase over the year-earlier period when head grades averaged 2 grams.
The recent quarter’ haul also included 6,983 oz. of platinum, 7,755 oz. of gold, 600 tonnes of nickel and 971 tonnes of copper.
Mill availability was slightly under budget during the quarter as the company worked to replace a pulp lifter in the semi-autogenous grinding mill, and install larger pump motors and pump boxes. NAP says it expects to reduce the downtime required for the next planned shell-liner replacement at the SAG mill.
On the financial front, NAP has filed a shelf prospectus with U.S. regulators for the sale of up to $100 million worth of common and special shares, warrants, stock purchase contracts and units over 25 months. The company didn’t say what it plans to do with the proceeds.
NAP recently decided to proceed with a plan to build an underground mine at Lac des les. The total price for a 2,000-tonne-per-day underground mine, and associated secondary crusher and leased mining equipment rings in at $65 million. Combined with Lac des les existing open-pit mine, the plan is expected to generate $92 million in cumulative pretax cash flow at a palladium price of US$325 per oz. (T.N.M., Apr. 5-11/04).
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