Trigon Metals processed 81,479 ore at an average grade of 0.95% copper, falling short of 87,000 tonnes at 1.2% at the Kombat mine in Namibia in the quarter ending December 31, 2023.
The company says the upcoming twelve months mark a pivotal period as Kombat’s underground operations resume after a 17-year hiatus in care and maintenance.
Trigon says it has reviewed its strategy, mine planning, and capital for both open pit and underground operations to manage restart risks and ensure a high-grade product for the plant.
Progress in dewatering the Asis West mine’s two shafts is substantial, with the first planned mining shaft currently dewatered down to 250 meters from the collar to the 8th level.
Accelerated underground mining will access higher-grade ore, with production ramping up to 15 thousand tonnes of high-grade ore per month in Q1 2025.
According to Trigon, this shift displaces 15ktpm of lower-grade open pit ore, maintaining an aggregate ore production of 30ktpm, enhancing overall production quality and thus margin and cash flow.
“Given these developments, Trigon has decided to postpone the expansion of its processing plant capacity from 30ktpm to 60ktpm, initially planned for 2024 to 2025,” the company says.
It added that this delay allows the underground operations to establish a performance track record and be ramped to a steady state of 30ktpm, ensuring a prudent and informed expansion timeline.
During the quarter, Trigon made an operating profit of US$581,518 for the three months and US$474,722 for the nine months ending December 31, 2023.
The net losses for the three months of US$8,095,812 and US$14,914,218 for the nine months ending December 31, 2023, were primarily as a result of the non-cash accretion of the Sprott stream advances and depreciation of property plant and equipment of US$7,656,790 for the three months and US$12,406,984 for the nine months ending December 31, 2023.
Reduced net operational cash outflows of US$2,554,215 for the nine months versus US$5,553,687 for the nine months ending December 31, 2022, attests to management’s emphasis on operational cost control measures implemented pre-production and during the commissioning process.
