Altiplano Metals Inc. (TSXV: APN) has reported strong Q3 2021 results from the Farellon Copper-Gold (Cu-Au) mine located near La Serena, Chile.
During Q3, 2021, the company extracted a total 11,624 tonnes of mineralised Cu-Au material at Farellon and processed 7,635 tonnes at an average copper grade of approximately 1.38%.
Sales of 221,518 pounds of copper generated approximately US$561,000 in revenue (after processing costs).
At the end of September, the company had 590 tonnes in stockpiles at the Farellon site to be shipped and 1,400 tonnes of low grade stockpiled material. The low grade stock will be processed at the APN mill site at a later date to recover the value of the contained copper and iron.
The company has currently an additional 1,540 tonnes in process at ENAMI.
Total revenue since Q1 2018 generated at the Farellon operation now represents more than US$7,200,000 from the sale of approximately 3,596,616 pounds of copper.
Total tonnes extracted in Q3 improved by 15% from the previous quarter. Processed material also improved in Q3 representing a 8.3% increase; however, overall grade declined by 7.3% from the second quarter.
The decrease in grade is attributed to further development work in non-productive areas such as advancing the decline and preparation of bench mining in upper levels where at total of 7,970 tonnes of waste was removed.
CEO, Alastair McIntyre, said going forward, the current work on the ventilation upgrade is providing opportunity to establish new mine headings expected to further grade control and output improvements. Completion of this work is expected in mid-December.
“Our Q3 activities highlight our work on efficiency and sustainability improvements at Farellon by focusing on upgrading underground infrastructure in ventilation, advancing to new operating levels, and conducting underground drilling to confirm continuity of the mineralisation at depth. This work will guide us to maximising our output in Q1 2022,” Mr McIntyre said.
During Q3 2021, the main operations at Farellon involved advancing the Hugo Decline to reach the new 360 m level in September. With this ongoing development, new emergency stations were installed closer to the added working faces. These locations provide safety shelters for underground staff as the decline advances to lower levels. The production focused in the previous 368 m level in both directions along the NE and SW sub-drifts.
Additional mining occurred with benching of the 382 m level and the 376 m level ceilings. A new underground drilling campaign began in August to determine the continuity of the Farellon vein system along strike and down dip of the current underground workings. Drill stations were set up from the Laura tunnel, located at east from Farellon vein to provide optimal drill angles to reach the Farellon vein at lower levels.
The results showed the continuity of the mineralization reaching the 330 m level approximately 28 m below the current operations. The implementation of the new ventilation system progresses with the work approximately 80% complete at the end of Q3 2021.
This work includes installation of the 125 HP fan, now working from a strategic location within in the Almendro Tunnel entrance. The fan is designed to power the air will flow from this point to the Hugo decline reaching the working faces by expelling the blasting and machine gases out of the mine. Work continues to seal all air leaks from Almendro Tunnel to complete the work expected in mid Q4 2021.
Altiplano has generated over US$7.2 million from the recovery and sale of approximately 3.6 million pounds of copper with an average grade of 1.74% Cu (2018 Q1-2021 Q2).
Cash flow has been re-invested into equipment, underground drilling, expanding underground development, enhancing ventilation to increase productivity and capacity, and the commencement of the permitted El Peñón fit-for-purpose mill and flotation plant located 15 km from the Farellon site.
For further information please visit: http://www.apnmetals.com/