Otjikoto's cash operating costs are forecast to be between U$480 to U$520 per oz and all-in sustaining cost to be between U$830 to U$870 per ounce.
According to the explorer for 2021, Otjikoto is budgeted to process a total of 3.4 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.77 g/t with process gold recovery of 98%. Mining activities are scheduled to focus on waste stripping in Phase 3 of the
In the first half of 2021, ore is scheduled to be sourced mainly from medium grade stockpiles, resulting in an average head grade of approximately 0.87 g/t in the first half of 2021, compared to a head grade of approximately 2.67 g/t in the second half of 2021 when high grade ore from Phase 3 of the
According to the statement, the Wolfshag ore zone is narrow and high grade, with pit and phase strip ratios that result in a highly variable gold production profile. Approximately 70% of the gold produced in 2021 is expected to be mined from Phase 3 of the
As a result of the timing of this high-grade ore mining, Otjikoto's production is expected to be significantly weighted to the second half of 2021. For the first half of 2021, Otjikoto's gold production is expected to be between 45,000 to 50,000 oz, which is expected to increase significantly to between 145,000 to 150,000 oz during the second half of 2021.
Meanwhile,
Project spending is currently estimated to total U$57 million (of which U$26 million is budgeted to be incurred in 2021) from completion of the internal study to production of stope ore, they said.
Portal development was completed in 2020, and activities in 2021 will focus on horizontal and vertical development to produce stope ore in the first quarter of 2022.
The current Wolfshag underground Mineral Reserve estimate includes 1.2 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 5.57 g/t, for a total of 210,000 contained ounces of gold.
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