TCM Problems at Endako Just going to post an excerpt from the latest TCM news release that highlights problems at Endako. Either way this turns out for TCM seems to bode well for Leeward, its looks like need better product to keep that mine going.
"New Endako Mill and Mine Plan.
As a result of the lower production and higher costs at the Endako mine due to lower than expected recovery rates at the new mill and ore grade at the mine, the Company has undertaken a series of initiatives intended to increase production and recovery rates and decrease costs. Primary among these initiatives is the decision to cease mining new material at the Endako mine and to process stockpiled ore beginning in the third quarter of 2012 through the spring of 2013. The Company had previously planned to mill this material over the course of the current 17-year mine plan. The Company will target stockpiled material to process based on its assessment of grade. The Company expects the revised operating plan will lower the Endako mine's average cash costs per pound during the third and fourth quarters of 2012, as compared to the first and second quarters of 2012.
The Company has also convened a team consisting of outside experts and internal technical specialists with the goal of achieving designed recovery as soon as possible. This team is currently addressing various areas, including, among others, a recalibration of the major instruments in the mill, working on the reagent mix in the flotation tanks, metallurgical balance work, and additional mill and maintenance staff training. The Company has also ceased mining at the bottom of the Denak West pit where it encountered lower-than-expected ore grades. The Company expects that mining operations will resume in the spring of 2013, with planned mining in the Endako pit and the walls of the Denak West pit."