Red River production hits heights RED River Resources has recorded record zinc, copper and lead production at its Thalanga operations in the third quarter of the financial year. In a report to investors, the company said record quarterly tonnage had been processed through the Thalanga Mill. Quarterly mine production at West 45 reached an all time high of 97kt ore mined and 109kt of ore was processed through the mill. Zinc concentrate production increased by 16 per MINING cent from the second quarter of the 2018-19 financial year to 8952 tonnes, lead concentrate was up 25 per cent to 3763 tonnes and copper concentrate up 134 per cent to 1694 tonnes. Production also began at Far West with 9kt of development ore mined. Red River Resources managing director Mel Palancian said the company was focused on maximising returns from the operation by increasing plant throughput and extending mine life. Mr Palancian said the company would do this by increasing mineral resources and ore reserves at deposits currently in the mine plan at West 45, Far West and Waterloo. He said they would also convert the mineral resources and ore reserves at Liontown and Orient and by aggressively exploring the growing pipeline of high-quality targets and projects. Mr Palancian said having a committed workforce with most based at Charters Towers where they could still access the site made all the difference during the quarter when the Flinders Highway was cut at Macrossan for more than a week because of the flooded Burdekin River. “The guys were committed. They kept Thalanga going,” Mr Palancian said. “I don’t know of any other mines that went through it all.” The flooded highway prevented trucking of concentrates to the Townsville port but Mr Palancian said they were able to quickly catch up delays of eight to 10 days. “We were well prepared for the wet season. “We stocked up on consumables,” he said.
