K92 achieves record quarterly production, stock jumps

During the second quarter of 2020, the Kainantu mine produced 25,762 oz gold, 531,406 lb copper and 10,867 oz silver — for a total of 26,847 oz gold equivalent. This marks a 37% improvement over its Q2 2019 output.

The quarter also achieved record mill throughput of 49,311 tonnes despite lower running time associated with the covid-19 lockdowns and other production impacts, with multiple daily mill throughput records exceeding 700 tonnes.

Surface exploration at Kainantu also resumed by the end of Q2 following the lifting of the state of emergency (SOE) by the PNG government, with three surface diamond drill rigs again operating on two targets in addition to the three underground diamond drill rigs.

The Stage 2 plant commissioning to double throughput from 200,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes per year is now targeting for completion by the end of Q3 2020, the company says. The Stage 3 expansion PEA based on the recently updated resource is also expected later this month.

Shares of K92 Mining jumped 5.9% by midday Monday on the TSX Venture Exchange. The company has a market capitalization of C$909.7 million.