Pantoro has poured first gold at the Norseman gold project, which it owns in a 50:50 joint venture with Tulla Resources.
Doré from the gravity circuit of approximately eight kilograms was poured on October 13, 2022. Production from the leaching circuit is also underway.
The processing plant is operating reliably with uninterrupted operations for the past eight days. Mill throughput is set to ramp up to nameplate capacity of 125 tonnes per hour over the course of the current December 2022 quarter.
Mining operations at the Scotia Mining Centre open pits and the OK underground mine are progressing well with about 160,000 tonnes of ore stocks on the ROM and available for processing.
Pantoro managing director Paul Cmrlec said the Norseman pour represented the culmination of approximately three years of hard work.
“Norseman has been taken from a dormant site with no ore reserves or usable processing facility to full operational status,” he said.
“There have been some unexpected delays resulting from minor but frustrating equipment start up and control programming issues during commissioning, however we are confident that all of those issues have now been resolved and the plant is operating well.”
Pantoro is the manager of the unincorporated joint venture, and is responsible for defining and implementing work programs, and the day-to-day management of the operation.
Pantoro’s interest in the Norseman Gold Project is secured through industry standard security arrangements over the entire project tenure.
The project is serviced by first class infrastructure at the project, local shire, and national infrastructure levels. A brand new processing facility has been constructed with practical completion achieved on September 5 and commissioning occurring over the last month.