Officials at Canada’s Veris Gold Corp. have announced record ongoing Q3 2013 growth at their three wholly-owned Jerritt Canyon gold mines and processing plant in Nevada, culminating in 17,292 gold oz for the month of September. Jerritt Canyon in Elko County is operated by Veris Gold USA Inc., a 100%-owned company unit.
During September, the plant averaged more than 4,452 tons per day (t/d) through the roasters resulting in production of 15,244 gold oz from Jerritt Canyon ore coupled with an additional 2,048 oz from 30,025 tons of ore milled for Newmont. The operations achieved 88% ore recoveries at Jerritt last month, representing improvements over 2012. Veris forecasted continues improvements to 90% recoveries by the end of Q2 2014.
“Our team continues to deliver excellent results,” said Veris CEO François Marland, while reporting the mining of more than 88,364 ore tons from the three mines with an average grade of 0.178 oz per ton.
Further advances at the SSX-Steer Mine, added Marland, have allowed Veris to produce 17,292 oz for the month from mining and toll milling production combined. In Q3, the SSX-Steer Mine produced a total of 77,776 tons containing 11,885 gold oz, averaging 845 t/d.
The Smith Mine, meanwhile, produced 141,369 tons containing 22,518 gold oz averaging 1,537 t/d for Q3. At Starvation Canyon a total of 56,680 tons were mined containing 12,234 gold oz averaging of 616 t/d. A grade improvement has been seen at all the operating mines averaging 0.17 ounce per ton within Q3.
Total ore processed at the Jerritt Canyon processing plant in September includes 30,025 tons from Newmont. Veris ran these tons in approximately seven days, averaging 4,289 t/d and produced 2,048.2 gold oz for Newmont. Company officials continue to target additional toll milling agreements for 2014.
The plant processed 126,884 tons in September, averaging 4,452 t/d with more than 5,000 t/d during many weeks. Outside routine July maintenance, the plant ran a record 314,506 tons averaging more than 4,032 t/d; recovery rates remain in the 85-88% range.
