Imperial Metals’ copper production up 26% in Q2
Imperial Metals Corp. (III-TSX) has reported its second quarter 2024 production results from the Mount Polley and Red Chris mines in British Columbia.
Imperial’s production for the second quarter was 15.5 million pounds of copper and 13,768 ounces of gold. Of that amount 9.28 million pounds of copper and 10,009 ounces of gold were produced from Mount Polley and 6.2 million pounds of copper and 3,759 ounces of gold was produced from Imperial’s 30% share of the Red Chris mine.
Copper production was up 26% from the 12.3 million pounds of copper produced in the first quarter of 2024, while gold production was up 7.0% from the 12,861 ounces produced in the first quarter of 2024.
Imperial is a Vancouver-based exploration, mine development and operating company with holdings that include a 100% stake in the Mount Polley mine, a 100% in the Huckleberry mine (British Columbia) and 30% of Red Chris.
In the first six months of 2024, copper production at Mount Polley was up 21% from the same period last year with a 20% increase in throughput, while gold production was down 1.0% with lower gold grades and recovery offsetting higher throughput.
Mount Polley produced 16.6 million pounds of copper in the first six months of 2024, up from 13,741 pounds in the year earlier period. Gold production fell slightly to 20,018 ounces from 20,165 ounces.
At Red Chris, copper production was up 48% in the first six months of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. The increase was driven by higher copper grades. Gold production was down 9.0% on lower gold grades.
On a 100% basis, Red Chris produced 37.4 million pounds of copper in the first half of 2024, up from 25.3 million pounds in the first half of 2023. In the same time frame, gold production fell to 22,038 ounces from 24,176 ounces.
Imperial shares eased 1.9% or $0.04 to $2.03. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $2.85 and $1.79.
Newmont Corp. [NGT-TSX, NEM-NYSE] now holds a 70% stake in Red Chris.
Newmont acquired the Red Chris interest via its acquisition of Australian company Newcrest Mining Ltd. The acquisition was completed during the fourth quarter of 2023.
Mount Polley is an open pit copper/gold mine located in south-central British Columbia, 56 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake. The mine is 100%-owned by an Imperial subsidiary. In a press release on July 22, 2024, Imperial said drilling at Mount Polley has extended mineralization 885 metres beneath the Springer Pit.
Results from the final 18 diamond drill holes from the Mount Polley 2024 exploration program, included a notable interval of 895 metres grading 0.26% copper and 0.32 g/t gold starting from a depth of 27.5 metres, including 342.5 metes grading 0.42% copper and 0.48 g/t starting from 27.5 metres in diamond drill hole SD-24-196.