Dundee Precious Metals Inc announced that it has received the final operating permits for its Ada Tepe gold mine in Bulgaria. Following the achievement of commercial production, which was announced during the second quarter, the Company applied for the final operating permits from the relevant local authorities which were received on August 12, 2019, as expected. The Company held its official mine opening on August 23rd which was attended by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Speaker of Parliament Tsveta Karayancheva, Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov, Krumovgrad mayor Sebihan Mehmed, Kardzhali district governor Nikola Chanev as well as other local and national stakeholders, demonstrating the importance of the project and strong level of support.

Mr Rick Howes, President and CEO, said that “Receipt of our operating permits and the official mine opening are important additional milestones for DPM and Ada Tepe which is expected to deliver significant growth for the Company going forward. We are extremely proud of the relationships and trust we have built with all stakeholders. We would like to thank them for their many years of support for this project and look forward to our future cooperation. We are currently focused on the ramp-up of the operation which is progressing well.”

Following the achievement of commercial production, the mine and mill have demonstrated the ability to operate at design throughput and recoveries. In August, construction of the larger integrated mine waste facility cells has been completed as planned and settlement time of tailings has improved. Additional cells have also been designed and construction commenced that will provide further flexibility going forward. The increase to full capacity is still forecast for the third quarter and gold contained in concentrate at Ada Tepe is still expected to be between 45,000 and 60,000 ounces in 2019.

Source: steelguru.com