The Refugio mine in northern Chile is showing signs of improvement for equal owners
The open-pit operation, which employs 3-stage crushing combined with heap leaching, produced 48,680 oz. in the fourth quarter of 1998, of which Bema’s share was 24,340 oz. at a cash operating cost of US$246 per oz. (Kinross acquired its half-interest as a result of merging with Amax Gold in June 1998.)
Production in the previous quarter amounted to 25,858 oz., of which Bema’s share was 12,929 oz. at a cash operating cost of US$427 per oz.
The improvement, which is attributed to modications to the overland conveyor system and crushing facilities, continued into January, when the mine produced 17,816 oz.
In all of 1998, Refugio produced 161,048 oz., with Bema’s share amounting to 80,523 oz. at a cash operating cost of US$305 per oz., compared with 73,543 oz. at US$320 per oz. in 1997. The company’s share in 1999 is expected to total 110,000 oz.
Bema ended the year with US$18.8 million in working capital, US$14.1 million in cash and 122.8 million shares outstanding.
Be the first to comment on "Refugio shows improvements"