Canada-based Golden Queen Mining has announced that commercial production has started at Soledad Mountain Project in Mojave, California.
The company has declared commercial production at Soledad Mountain as the process plant has begun operating in line with both design specifications and management expectations.
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In the last 60 days, the process plant, on an average, has achieved 80% of design throughput capacity. In October and November, the facility processed an average of 10,500t a day.
Golden Queen Mining chairman and CEO Thomas M Clay said: “Announcing commercial production at Soledad Mountain represents a major milestone for Golden Queen. This achievement, which is a culmination of decades of effort, is a testament to the dedication and determination of our entire team including our valued contractors and partners.”
After the declaration of commercial production, the company’s operations team will continue to focus on increasing ore output and grade from the mine and improving the process plant to further enhance its overall operational performance.
Since the first pour on 1 March, the Soledad Mountain Project has shipped nearly 17,800oz of gold and approximately 184,875oz of silver.
Golden Queen holds a 50% interest in this property where it uses conventional open-pit mining methods, the cyanide heap leach and Merrill-Crowe procedure to procure gold and silver.
