Trigon releases copper production targets in Namibia
Trigon Metals Inc. [TM-TSXV] has released 2025 production targets for its Kombat copper mine in Namibia.
The announcement comes after the company recently said it had achieved commercial production from the underground operations at the Kombat mine as of April 30, 2024. This achievement marks a major step forward in Trigon’s path to becoming a leading mid-tier coper producer, the company said in a press release on May 23, 2024.
Trigon said it defines commercial production as operating at 70% of production capacity over 30 consecutive days. After restarting mining operations from the open pit in May, 2023, the company commenced production from underground ahead of schedule, having announced the underground training and first blast on February 5, 2024.
In the latest update, the company said May, 2024 was marked by several record-breaking underground mining days, leading to a production average of 12.1 tonnes of copper per day. Underground ore mined for the month totalled 19,664 tonnes at an average grade of 2.16%, leading to production of 386 tonnes of copper.
Looking ahead to 2025, the focus remains on underground production from the Asia West underground complex. Underground production is expected to amount to between 250,000 and 280,000 ore tonnes mined for the year at an average grade of between 1.95% and 2.3% copper. From the ore mined, Trigon projects its copper metal production to range between 5,500 tonnes (12.1 million pounds) and 6,100 tonnes (13.4 million pounds) for the year.
Cash costs are expected to average between US$2.80 and US$3.15 a pound for the full year, reducing on a quarter-by-quarter basis as production is ramped up to steady state. The company said the underground mine has continued to perform and exceed production targets outlined in the feasibility study.
Trigon shares eased 0.855 or $0.01 to $1.16 and currently trade in a 52-week range of $1.32 and 77.5 cents.
Trigon is a Canadian exploration and development company with a focus on copper and silver holdings in Africa. Currently the company has operations in Namibia and Morocco. Its portfolio includes an 80% interest in five mining licenses in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for tis high-grade copper deposits. In that area, Trigon is focused on the Kombat Mine.
In November, 2022, Trigon signed a definitive agreement with Sprott Private Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and Sprott Mining Inc. for a US$37.5 million copper stream for its Kombat Mine in Namibia.
That was up from the original amount of US$27.5 million when Trigon announced on July 20, 2022, that it had signed a non-binding term sheet with Sprott.
Under the streaming transaction, Trigon pledged to deliver to the investors 100% of the silver produced at the Kombat Mine. Proceeds were earmarked primarily to expand the plant capacity to 60,000 tonnes per month and complete ongoing works to dewater the mine, develop the Asis West underground mine.