Quadra Reports Second Quarter Production Results
VANCOUVER, BC - Quadra Mining Ltd. reported the production results for the second quarter of 2009 from its two 100% owned operating assets, the Robinson Mine located in Ely, Nevada and the Carlota Mine located in Globe-Miami, Arizona. Combined production was below expectation with 29.7 million pounds of copper and 18,031 ounces of gold produced for the three months ended June 30, 2009. As a result, 2009 production guidance for both Robinson and Carlota has been revised.
Robinson produced 22.9 million pounds of copper and 18,031 ounces of gold during the second quarter of 2009. Quarterly production results were lower than expected because of the inability to access hypogene ore in the Veteran pit which was required to blend with the supergene ore from the Wedge pit - a strategy that has historically improved metallurgical performance. Access to the hypogene ore was limited throughout the quarter, due to concerns with the stability of the north pit wall in Veteran by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Federal enforcement agency responsible for safety and health in US mines. The operations team has subsequently agreed upon a plan with MSHA to resolve these issues, taking measures that include some changes to the pit design and increasing monitoring and fence protection. While mining of the hypogene ore in Veteran will resume in the third quarter allowing continuation of the blending strategy, production guidance for copper has been reduced slightly with the mine now expected to produce approximately 130 million pounds of copper. Gold production guidance of 100,000 ounces remains unchanged for the year.
Copper sales from Robinson for the second quarter were 24.2 million pounds as a result of the lower concentrate production and the timing of shipments. The increasing copper price during the quarter will result in positive provisional pricing and mark to market adjustments to prior quarter sales.
Carlota produced 6.8 million pounds of copper during the second quarter. Production was below mine plan estimates in part because of lower than scheduled ore mined and in part because of lower than planned leaching rates.
Although the development schedule for the Franke Project has been impacted by pond construction quality issues and a structural design issue with the primary crusher feed system, mining has commenced in the Franke pit, the operating team is in place and first cathode production is still expected in Q3 2009.
Paul Blythe, President & CEO of Quadra said, "Both of our operations have encountered some challenges this past quarter and while disappointing, they are not altogether atypical. Robinson's mineralogy has always resulted in variable quarterly results but in the past year we've successfully managed this variability with ore blending strategies. As we moved into a new pit - and lost the ability to blend ore as planned from Veteran - recoveries subsequently suffered. This has had some impact on guidance, reducing our estimated production for the year by approximately 7%. Now that we have an agreed position with MSHA, and that the geotechnical issues have been resolved, we will revert to the blending strategy for the rest of the year. While progress is being made at Carlota, we have to be prepared for differences between testwork and commercial operation. Percolation challenges due to the segregation of fines are not unusual and can be resolved by developing different stacking procedures. The lower solution flow rates will increase leach times proportionally. On the positive side, evaluation work to date on material that has been leached continues to confirm that the recoveries used in the feasibility study are appropriate and should be achieved."
"At Franke we are pleased to announce that mining has commenced and that despite encountering some design and construction issues, we are on track to produce cathode copper in the third quarter. This will then be our third copper producing operation."
The company’s address is