The new mill at the Endako molybdenum mine is meeting expectations and then some, Thompson Creek Metals said this week.
Commercial production at the mill began on Feb. 1 and over the first five days, the mill was running at or above its designed capacity of 50,000 tonnes per day, a 77-per-cent increase over the old mill's capacity of 28,000 tonnes.
Construction of the regrind circuit for the new mill is still in process and is expected to be completed by the end of March and the old mill's cleaner and regrind circuit will be used until then.
"We are extremely pleased to have achieved the full design tonnage for the new mill just 20 days into the commissioning and start-up process," Thompson Creek CEO Kevin Loughrey said in a press release.
Once the mill is at full production, the mine is expected to produce 7.3 million kilograms of molybdenum each year, up from 4.5 million using the old mill.
The new mill cost $633 million to build.
Denver-based Thompson Creek holds a 75-per-cent interest in the mine, 175 kilometres west of Prince George, and Sojitz Corporation, a Japanese company, holds a 25 per cent interest.
