GOLD MINING: Osisko sets monthly records

QUEBEC – Last week Osisko Mining of Montreal announced that the secondary crusher installation is complete at its Canadian Malartic gold mine 25 km west of Val d’Or. The addition of a secondary crusher facility consisting of two cone crushers was begun earlier this year as a means of boosting mill throughput to 55,000 t/d, the nominal commercial rate.

Under optimum conditions the Canadian Malartic project will have an annual output of 600,000 oz of gold, but the ramp up to full production has been slow. The mill set several production record in July 2012: total monthly throughput at 1.3 million tonnes, average daily throughput at 41,935 t/d, and 37,780 oz of gold produced.

President and CEO Sean Roosen said of the July performance, "We are now beginning to see significant improvement in daily throughput and gold production from the Canadian Malartic mill. With the now completed pre-crushing circuit and the coming installation of the second pebble crusher in early fourth quarter, we will be focused on plant optimization and cost reduction. Since we started production last year, Canadian Malartic has now produced well over 400,000 oz of gold during this ramp up phase."

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