- Consolidated Zinc (CZL) has begun crushing circuit commissioning at its Plomosas Plant in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua
- The company is currently refurbishing Plomosas to allow for on-site processing and in-house management of plant operations
- CZL is expecting the mill and wet end of the plant will be commissioned from March 13
- Cold weather has impacted the completion of the tailings dam, however, night shift has commenced to meet the March deadline
- On the market this afternoon, CZL is up 13.9 per cent and is trading at 4.1 cents per share
Consolidated Zinc (CZL) has begun crushing circuit commissioning at its Plomosas Plant in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua.
The company is currently refurbishing Plomosas to allow for on-site processing and in-house management of plant operations.
Notably, the mill and wet end of the plant will be commissioned from March 13 and as CZL has over two years of experience in optimising the processing of Plomosas plant feeds a short commissioning period is expected.
In February, Texas saw extreme cold weather, severely impacting the state. The weather also impacted Chihuahua and the company’s operations at Plomosas.
An estimated 14 days were lost for the tailings dam due to road closures, supply issues and extreme cold. Lights have been installed so that earthworks and plastic liner laying can proceed around the clock to meet the March deadline.
CZL stated that an independent expert is scheduled to inspect the mill installation on March 13.
The Aldama plant continued to operate in January and February at similar rates to the fourth quarter of 2020. CZL plans to run both the Aldama and Plomosas plants in the second quarter of 2021 to reduce stockpiles and increase revenue, while allowing time to commission Plomosas.
The company has also purchased a new specialised haul truck for the plant, to increase haulage rate.
Managing Director Brad Marwood is pleased with the progress made to date with the commissioning of the Plomosas plant.
“Our modelling indicates a bright future for CZL at Plomosas and the increased cashflow from running the Plomosas and Aldama plants during the second quarter of 2021 should allow CZL to accelerate the expansion of the Plomosas plant to 200 tonnes per day during 2021,” he said.
“The size of operations in production matters, as does direct control of the processes, and the steps taken in the last few months strengthen our business model,” he added.
On the market this afternoon, CZL is up 13.9 per cent and is trading at 4.1 cents per share at 2:43 pm AEDT.