Higher grades to postpone Gahcho Kué closure

十月 29, 2018

Production at the Gahcho Kué mine was flat in the third quarter as higher grades offset the impact of a planned closure, wrote Rapaport.

2.4 carats of rough diamonds per tonne were yielded — an 8% increase versus a year ago. Total output was stable at 1.8 million carats, even as the amount of material treated fell 8% to 759,000 tonnes.

“A planned maintenance shutdown in the plant during the quarter resulted in less ore tonnes passing through the plant in comparison to what has been achieved in previous quarters of 2018,” said Mountain Province, which owns just under half of the asset. “However, daily throughput in the plant continues to be consistent with our targets for the year.”

Mountain Province’s share of production was 49% (891,000 carats) in the Gahcho Kué project, the remaining 51% belongs to De Beers.

Mountain Province expects total full-year production at Gahcho Kué to reach an estimate of 6.3 million to 6.6 million carats.

Source: Rapaport