Loonee wrote: It's ok, they started in Jan after tweaking. Not like there is optimism priced in looking at production beat 2016 and comapre share price to 1 yr ago.
Hollister
The Hollister mine had its best quarter of mining in the fourth quarter, mining over 9,000 GEOs, as the majority of the underground rehab was completed in the third quarter and development was advanced providing additional access to the Gloria vein. For the quarter, Hollister mined 20,440 tons at a grade of 0.44 AuEq opt. For the year, Hollister mined 66,453 tons at a grade of 0.38 AuEq opt. Fourth quarter and YTD recovered GEOs were 5,914 and 7,371, respectively. Sold ounces for the same periods were 4,752 and 5,281 GEOs. Stockpiles at the end of 2017 contained approximately 15,000 GEOs from 44,000 tons at a GEO grade of 0.40 opt.
As previously reported, metallurgical test work is being performed to identify processing improvements to increase the gold and silver recoveries of the Hollister ore processed through the Midas mill. The recent mill modification, eliminating all cyanide in the grinding circuit, planned for the fourth quarter was not finished until the first week of January 2018. As a result, the decision was made to stockpile the Hollister ore during the fourth quarter in order to limit the risk of lower mill recoveries and less revenue. In 2018, the Company has already milled approximately 15,000 tons of Hollister ore at estimated gold and silver grades of 0.48 and 3.20 opt, respectively. Gold and silver recoveries for that material are estimated at approximately 80% and 65%, respectively. Ongoing metallurgical test work supports that gold recoveries of 85-90% can be achieved with additional modifications to the Midas mill circuit, including increasing leach time and finer grinding. Design and engineering of these modifications are being evaluated.