Argonaut has boosted the mill head grade since having improved mining practices in October. Improvements include greater ore selectivity and more effective dilution control.
In November, Argonaut tested the OrePro3D software from Orica. A test block was defined including grade and tonnage. The material mined from the test block was batched through the plant. It had an estimated grade of 1.53 g/t gold, including dilution. The actual head grade at the mill was 1.50 g/t, demonstrating the strong grade control practices work well.
The Magino orebody is not visually controlled, so the company invested in a GPS fleet management system to improve mining selectivity. Work is also being done to optimize the payload capacity of the current truck fleet which includes Komatsu 145-tonne haul trucks.
Argonaut has engaged Lycopodium, an international engineering firm, to do a plant optimization and expansion study next year. The objective is to…
