Altiplano processed 4072.3mt of copper, at an average grade of 1.97pc copper in Q1 2020 at the Farellon Copper-Gold mine in Chile with sales close to $320,960. The copper grade rose by 6pc from Q4 2019, however, the tonnes extracted declined by 12pc because operations shifted focus to higher grade, higher value copper.
The processed copper in Q1 2020 significantly declined from Q1 2019 at 6,164mt at an average grade of 1.39pc copper. The average copper grade in 2018 and 2019 was 1.58pc and 1.60pc, respectively.
The company advanced the Hugo Decline project to access a potential copper mineralization of 181,437mt, and also planned to reduce extraction to facilitate the development. By the end of March, Altiplano reported 590mt in stockpiles and 948mt in processing at the Farrellon site.
John Williamson, Altiplano’s chairman, noted the company has been cash flow-posituve for the last six quarters and is in the process of procuring equipment for the new mill’s construction.