NQ Minerals announced record production levels of metal concentrates in July from its Hellyer mine in Tasmania, Australia. Mine operations reached production of about 1.25mn mt per year from July output, translating into a corresponding annual output.
The plant achieved a throughput of 106,365mt in July. From the mine, lead concentrate production reached 4,075mt in July, an incline of 39.5pc from the monthly average of 2,921mt during Q2 2020.
Hellyer’s lead concentrate volume made up about 85pc of the company’s revenue in July, about a 10pc rise from a 75pc contribution toward the mine’s monthly revenue from a year prior when gold and silver prices had increased, David Lenigas, NQ’s chairman said.
Lenigas also noted that recent advancements at the Hellyer plant led to growth in annualized production, that surpassed 1.2mn mt per year by the end of July, which was a significant upgrade for the mine’s operational performance.
The mine produced 1,509mt of zinc concentrate in July, up by 7pc, compared to the monthly average production of 1,414mt during the second quarter of 2020.
NQ minerals acquired Hellyer in 2017 after confirming a reserve of more than 8mn mt. By the end of 2018, the company began lead, zinc, and precious metal production. Hellyer has outperformed initial metallurgical expectations and plans to expand further.