During Q3 2022, Copper Mountain produced 16.5 million lb. of copper equivalent, including 13.2 million lb. of copper plus 6,053 oz. of gold and 64,331 oz. of silver as credits, from its flagship mine in southern BC. This was noticeably lower compared to Q3 2021, in which 22.4 million lb. of copper, 7,449 oz. of gold, and 134,987 oz. of silver were produced.
According to the company, the weaker Q3 2022 production is a result of the mill feed grade, mill throughput and copper recoveries all being down for the quarter. Mill feed grade was 0.24% copper as compared to 0.37% in Q3 2021, while copper recovery was 74.4% to 79.7%. Tonnes milled during Q3 2022 were about 40,000 tonnes lower than the prior-year quarter.
“Lower grade and lower mill throughput impacted our copper output. We experienced a grade reduction as most of the ore processed in the third quarter came from the lower-grade north pit as opposed to the planned Phase 4 of…
