PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Emerging resources developer Alcyone Resources has poured its first silver bullion from the Texas silver and polymetallic project, in Queensland.
During April this year, Alcyone started re-irrigating the existing silver rich heaps at the Twin Hills mine, which forms part of the Texas project, to demonstrate the viability of the leaching process before moving to a full-scale commercial silver production.
The silver-rich solutions from the leach pads was processed using the pilot scale Merrill Crowe circuit at site, which Alcyone said on Thursday confirmed the viability of the proposed long-term process flow sheet.
The first batch of silver rich precipitate was then treated off-site with the first bullion poured on June 15.
Alcyone said in a statement that while this bullion still had to undergo final refining, it has been estimated that it would deliver more than 15 000 oz of silver.
“This is a wonderful achievement for the Alcyone team, who have successfully brought the Twin Hills project into early production, just 18 months after first making the acquisition,” said Alcyone MD Andrew King.
He noted that the re-irrigation of the existing silver heaps at Twin Hills provided the company with an “excellent opportunity” to validate the proposed leaching process, while also allowing the company to capitalise on the current strong silver price.
“With the silver pice currently sitting comfortably at A$30/oz, and our unit cash operating costs forecast at about A$15/oz, the Twin Hills operation should be capable of generating a strong cash margin as we move towards full scale mining operations later this year,” King said.
Construction work was currently progressing on schedule with the ramp-up to full scale commercial production expected in the September quarter of this year, at an initial rate of between 1.5-million and two-million ounces a year.
