Vancouver – Alexco Resource (AXR-T, AXU-N) greeted the New Year by declaring commercial production at its wholly-owned Bellekeno silver-lead-zinc mine in the Yukon.
After starting the ramp-up process in September, Alexco finished commissioning the underground mine in the Keno Hill silver district on January 1.
Through the ramp up of production between October and December, the company mined roughly 15,700 tonnes of ore and the mill processed over 9,000 tonnes. Average grades, including some designated low-grade ore for commissioning, came in at 1,068 grams silver per tonne, 12.6% lead and 6.6% zinc.
The first commercial concentrate for smelting and refining shipped out in early December, just as the company announced it had secured lead and zinc off-take agreements with Glencore International.
In the initial two-year deal Alexco expects to ship 42,800 tonnes of concentrate made up of 27,300 tonnes of lead concentrate and 15,500 tonnes of zinc concentrate. The lead concentrate will be roughly 70% lead with more than 6,200 grams silver, and the zinc concentrate will grade 54% with 0ver 300 grams silver.
The company continues to work out bottlenecks at the mine, especially in the pumping and piping efficiency within the flotation circuit.
“Reaching commercial production at Bellekeno is the final milestone in Alexco’s transition to a fully accredited Canadian mining company,” stated Clynton Nauman, Alexco’s president and chief executive officer.
The resource at Bellekeno stands at 401 million tonnes grading 921 grams silver, 9.4% lead and 6.5% zinc for 11.9 million oz. silver.
In December the company also closed a $41 million financing, initially set at $31 million. Alexco issued 5 million shares at $8.20 each and now has 59 million shares outstanding.
Alexco’s share price dropped 36¢ or 4.8% on the day to close at $7.09 with 500,000 shares traded. The company hit a 52-week high of $9.03 in December, having climbed from around $3.20 in August.
I think you had best look at the Bellekeno reserves of 401 million tonnes, it would be better quoted as 401 thousand. if I’m not mistaken this figure of million was used in an earlier release, let us always keep the true facts in perspective.