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Freehill Mining sets iron ore production records at Chilean operation

Published: 15:31 12 Apr 2018 AEST

Aerial photo of trial blast
A drone image of a trial blast that shows the darker high-grade magnetite areas

Freehill Mining Ltd (ASX:FHS) achieved record magnetite production of 32,403 tonnes during the March quarter at its Yerbas Buenas Iron Ore Project in Chile.

Trial mining at the project continues to ramp-up with record monthly production of 14,327 tonnes in March.

Revenues for the quarter were US$833,323, inclusive of IVA Tax, with all product sold to the Romeral pellet feed plant of Compañía Minera del Pacifico S.A. (CMP) as part of a sales agreement.

The plant is 35 kilometres south of the mine.

READ: Freehill Mining sets monthly revenue record at magnetite operation in Chile

Process grades remain high with an average of 28% iron recorded for March with only a minor proportion of mined material sent to waste.

Trial mining at the YB1 structure to date has resulted in the extraction of 200,000 tonnes of iron ore to produce 70,000 tonnes of magnetite concentrates.

Crushing circuit commissioned

Commissioning of the single line tertiary crushing circuit has been completed and this will now be further enhanced.

Additional investment will allow significant increases in capacity, recovery and product grade.

Now the initial process has been concluded, the operational team is again focused on cost reduction.

Blasting trials completed

Major Korean explosives group Hanwha Corporation has completed a series of blasting trials at Yerbas Buenas with Hanwha meeting all blasting related costs.

The objective was to develop magnetite specific blasting formulae for the Chilean iron ore mining industry.

Chile’s Department of Mines has also completed a site visit as part of the final step in approving a production increase to 40,000 tonnes per month.

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