July 15th, 2002
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Rod Tyreman, Senior Metallurgist and Donald Nord, Plant tabler/refiner, stand next to one of their Knelson Concentrators at Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine operation. |
RED LAKE, Ontario - Due to higher than expected grades of ore, Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine has realized gold production 240% better than expected.
Goldcorp's first Knelson Concentrator was commissioned in year 2000 and was treating ~25tph of cyclone underflow. Soon after the mine poured their first 1,090 ounces of gold.
The Red Lake mine realized higher than expected feed grades and saw an opportunity to further increase gravity recovery. As a result the gravity circuit was expanded to increase gold recovery.
The expansion of the gravity circuit led to the addition of one of Knelsons premium line of batch concentrators, a KC-XD20. Similar to the first Knelson installation, this brand of batch concentrator came with the G5 concentrate cone technology.
The gravity circuit at Red Lake plays a significant role in the gold recovery process accounting for 60% of total gold produced. Goldcorp recognizes this by ensuring the two centrifugal concentrators are operating at optimum performance. The company ensures this by sourcing Knelsons maintenance and training services, which provides a technical evaluation and training of preventative maintenance requirements.
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Goldcorp's Production 240% Better than Expected
**Source: Mining Engineering - April 2002
April 2002
Goldcorp reported that its gold production during 2001 increased by 240% above projected levels, to 18.9 t (607,400 oz). During the same period, cash costs decreased 62% to $2.73/g ($85/oz).
During its first year of production, Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine in Canada produced 15.6 t (503,385 oz) at a cash cost of $1.83/g ($59/ oz). This was a 110% improvement in production from original forecasts and 33% lower in projected cash costs, the company said.
Meanwhile, the company's Wharf Mine produced 3.2 t (104,000 oz) during 2001 at a cash cost of $6.59/g ($212/oz). In 2000, the mine produced 2.9 t (93,800 oz) at a cash cost of $7.16/g ($223/oz).
For the year, Goldcorp reported earnings of $52.8 million, or 64 cents/share, compared with a loss of $19.3 million, or 24 cents a share, during 2000. Cash flow from operations during 2001 was $95.6 million, compared with $7.5 million in 2000.