The copper content in the ore of Novo Cerovo exceeds 0.5 percent, which is a better average than the one recorded in Jama, the only underground mine.
With the result better than expected and with the transfer of the plan for almost 300 tons, Novo Cerovo improved the total January score of the company, which, as the chief mining engineer Jiao Ximing said, is an encouraging fact at the start of the year.
“The achieved results are not accidental and are primarily the result of excellent copper content in the ore. The realization index of this production parameter alone is a fantastic 150, because instead of 0.341%, ore was mined with an average of 0.523% copper,” says the manager of this mine Dragan Ilic.
Due to that, 80 percent more copper was given in the ore than planned for the whole month, and over 45 percent more copper in concentrate was produced. Total excavations amounted to over one million tons, and due to the high metal content, copper in the ore “weighted” 1,330 tons, and copper in concentrate 806 tons.
“In China, they traditionally believe that the whole year will be successful if the first month is like that. Since the youngest mine in Serbia, Zidjin, reached and surpassed the production plan a week before the end of January, as it should continue in the coming months,” the company said in a statement.
Chief mining engineer Jiao Ximing pointed out that Novo Cerovo, with a result better than expected and with the transfer of the January plan by almost 300 tons, improved the overall score of the company, which is an encouraging fact for him at the start of the year.
“We excavated the ore from two floors. We combined the one with 530, where the metal content is weaker, with the ore at elevation 460, which is richer in copper. We also removed tailings from elevation 530, and recently we started work on 520, where we expect to soon load the rich from floor 460, so the ‘story’ from the ‘terrace’ 520 is good from the aspect of continuity of mining richer ore, but also due to the fact that we will not have to go down lower where the working conditions, especially in winter, are very difficult,” Ilic added.
According to him, the content of copper in the ore remained at over 0.5 percent until the end of January, which is a better average than the one recorded in underground mining. Remarking that Novo Cerovo will be the company’s richest deposit, Ilic replied: “We did not assume that the metal content in the ore would be so high. We knew that it contained a lot of oxides, but it turned out that they were not in the expected quantities. Good content is from sulfide ore”.
The full capacity of the Novo Cerovo mine and the processing of 8,500 tons of ore per day, according to the company’s CEO Jian Ximing, is expected in May.
It should be reminded that the mine was reactivated in May last year, and its revival officially started two months earlier, when the first spoon of the investment cover was loaded, B92 reports.
