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Aureus production jumps as gold recoveries improve

Published: 02:30 18 Feb 2016 EST

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The ounces are pouring out at faster rate.

Gold recoveries at Aureus Mining’s (LON:AUE, TSX:AUE) New Liberty operation in Liberia have improved so much that output in the last month a half is around two thirds of the level achieved in the entire second half of 2015.

So, since the start of the year the company has produced 11,001 ounces of gold compared with 17,172 in the six months prior to this.

A total of 5,478 ounces were unearthed in January and 5,523 in the February – and remember we are a little over halfway through the month.

Aureus said its tweaks had resulted in “operational performance improvements” from the gravity and carbon in leach circuits that are central to processing the ore.

Gold recovery rates are now up at a steady state 85% and hit 87%, which has been sustained over the last week.

"The improvements in gold recovery and production at New Liberty are encouraging and are a direct result of ongoing optimisation procedures as we progress towards achieving commercial production by the end of March,” said David Reading, chief executive. 

“We fully expect to see further recovery improvements in the months ahead, and the company now looks forward to continuing to optimise the New Liberty process plant and delivering on the exciting potential of the New Liberty gold mine."

Separately, Aureus said it will have finalised its updated mine plan by the end of the month. The new blueprint will be central to discussions with lenders when agreeing a new debt repayment schedule.

Aureus deferred its first payment, due at the end of the last month.

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