Adriatic Metals produces first concentrate at Vares silver project in Bosnia
Adriatic Metals (ASX: ADT) has overcome a delivery-related delay to produce its first concentrate from the Vares silver project in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A slight delay in the arrival of the project’s dust collectors and associated ducting was caused when a vessel carrying the equipment was held up outside the Suez Canal.
The ship had to be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope before arriving in Rijeka on 16 January.
Adriatic is now focused on increasing the Vares processing plant to its nameplate processing capacity of approximately 65,000 tonnes per month by Q4 2024.
The processing plant is designed to have a capacity of 800,000 tonnes per annum, producing 90,000tpa of zinc concentrate and 65,000tpa of silver/lead concentrate.
Over the next few months, this will involve the down-blending of high-grade stockpiled ore with lower grade stockpiles.
Adriatic is also preparing to introduce Jameson flotation cells in March to assist with improving grade recovery.
Key milestone
Managing director and chief executive officer Paul Cronin said the maiden silver, lead and zinc concentrate production is a vital milestone for the Vares project.
“The Vares processing plant has been designed and constructed using the latest technology from the leading manufacturers in the industry, while adhering to the highest levels of health and safety.”
“I am very proud of what has been achieved by the team and I would like to thank them all for their hard work and commitment.”
“This is a significant achievement for Adriatic, the local community in Vares and the country. The Vares project is one of the largest post-war investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, bringing significant economic and social benefits.”
Local commitment
Mr Cronin added that Adriatic’s commitment to the hiring of local staff, collaboration with authorities and communities, engaging with local suppliers and the deployment of cutting-edge mining technology was paying off with the early success.
“This strategy not only drives economic development but also ensures that benefits are shared within the Vares community well beyond the life of the mine,” he said.
“Over the coming months, further optimisation of the Vares processing plant will continue as we expand underground development and bring the operations to nameplate capacity in Q4 2024.”
The Vares silver project has two processing sites, the Rupice surface infrastructure site and the Vares processing plant site.
The surface infrastructure site is located above Adriatic’s Rupice underground mine site and is approximately 24.5 km by road northwest from the Vares processing plant.