PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior Havilah Resources on Monday told shareholders that mining at the Portia operation, in South Australia, would resume this week.
Havilah earlier this month temporarily suspended mining at the Portia project after a wall slip was experienced in a previously mined area, allowing geotechnical experts to re-evaluate the integrity of the current openpit operation.
The company said that it was now determined that mining could safely proceed down to around 35 m below surface, with no changes to the current design. However, mining design changes were required to access the highest-grade ore zone on the floor of the openpit.
Once the highest-grade ore was removed, the design would be reassessed to ensure the remainder of the base of the tertiary ore could be safely mined. The pit wall movements would also be constantly monitored.
Havilah said that, while startup at the Portia project had been scheduled for Wednesday, recent heavy rains had delayed site access by at least one day.
In the meantime, the processing plant was continuing to process high-grade ore and was being optimised to maximise throughput and plant availability. The plant was expected to have sufficient high-quality gold concentrate to pour its first gold this week.
Edited by: Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor
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