SOFIA (Bulgaria), April 13 (SeeNews) – Canada's Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) said on Friday that it produced 57,300 ounces of gold from its Chelopech mine in Bulgaria in the first three months of 2018, up from 46,400 ounces produced in the same period of 2017.
“We had another strong quarter at Chelopech and continue to make good progress on smelter optimization initiatives,” Rick Howes, president and CEO of DPM, said in a statement.
The copper concentrate output of Chelopech mine rose to 9.3 million pounds in the first quarter of 2018 from 8.2 million pounds in the like period of last year.
A total of 540,600 tonnes of ore were processed at Chelopech mine during the review period.
"First quarter Chelopech gold and copper production exceeded our planned production due to higher ore grades and is expected to return to planned levels for the remainder of the year in line with guidance," DPM said.
DPM’s other project in the country, Krumovgrad gold mine, is on track to commence operations in the fourth quarter of 2018, the company said.
“We remain on budget with construction at our Krumovgrad gold project with production of first concentrate on track for the fourth quarter of 2018,” Rick Howes said.
DPM completed earthworks relating to the construction of the integrated mine waste facility during the review period. Installation of major foundations, equipment and structural steel continued through the quarter, as planned, the company noted.
Forecast capital cost remains at $162-168 million (132-136 million euro), compared with the original estimate of $178 million, DPM said.
($=0.8117 euro)