PRECIOUS METALS

Galantas aiming for 50,000ozpa at Omagh

Ireland-focused gold producer and explorer Galantas Gold (AIM:GAL) will increase the capacity of its gold milling operation at its Omagh mine in Northern Ireland.

Staff reporter
Galantas will be increasing the capacity of Omagh's processing plant during 2019

Galantas will be increasing the capacity of Omagh's processing plant during 2019

Galantas plans to add a second milling shift late in the June quarter to process increased quantities of feed that should be available by then, with more shifts to be added in the September quarter.

It is currently running an extended dayshift, which will continue until the second shift is added.

The processing plant produces gold and silver concentrate using a froth-flotation process on a batch basis from a stockpile of underground vein material and additional feed from on-vein development operations.

Galantas is aiming to produce 2,000-2,5000 ounces per month of gold concentrate in the 2020-21 financial year. 

The company did not release its current production rate. 

For the majority of 2019, Galantas said it would source the increased quantities of processing feed from multiple on-vein development headings, with mining between levels expected by or before early 2020.

It said it could possibly expand the capacity further to 50,000oz per annum of gold, although more resources are needed for this to be possible. 

The company has identified targets for this purpose, with exploration set to be funded by part of profits generated from production.

It also gave an update on the development of Omagh, saying it was continuing on-vein development on the 1,084 (second) level, with 32m of vein drive completed.

"The main decline development tunnel has reached the 1,072 (third) level and a 58m cross-cut to intersect the Kearney vein is in progress.

The main decline tunnel is now 423m in length and the total of all underground drivages exceeds 1,136m," Galantas said. 

CEO Roland Phelps said Galantas had used around half of the December 2018 private placing funds of £4 million (US$5.3 million).

"We continue to invest in safety and productivity improvements, with the goal of becoming Ireland's premier, ecologically-secure, gold producer," he said.

In London, Galantas' shares were up 7.37% Tuesday to 5.1p, which was also up 5.1% from six months ago.

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