VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - January 18, 2016) - Turquoise Hill Resources today announced fourth quarter 2015 production for Oyu Tolgoi.
Jeff Tygesen, Turquoise Hill Chief Executive Officer, said, "Oyu Tolgoi continued to operate at record levels for the fourth quarter. Productivity improvements in the concentrator implemented throughout the year led to throughput for the quarter exceeding nameplate capacity. Thanks to the focus and dedication of Oyu Tolgoi's workforce, we beat our 2015 copper production guidance and met our gold target."
For Q4'15, throughput increased 8.5% over Q3'15 reaching an all-time high. Copper production for the quarter increased 2.3% over Q3'15 due to higher volumes. As a result of mining higher grades from Phase 2 and higher volumes, Q4'15 gold production increased 68.3% over Q3'15.
Copper production for 2015 of 202,200 tonnes exceeded the Company's guidance of 175,000 to 195,000 tonnes and annual gold production of 653,000 ounces met 2015 guidance of 600,000 to 700,000 ounces. For 2015, Oyu Tolgoi's second full year of production, the mine operated at record levels. Compared to 2014 results, 2015 mined production increased 19.3%, concentrator throughput increased 23.9%, concentrate production increased 39.9%, copper production increased 36.3% and gold production increased 10.9%.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 175,000 to 195,000 tonnes of copper and 210,000 to 260,000 ounces of gold in concentrates for 2016. The majority of 2016 gold production is expected in the first half of the year.
Underground development
In December 2015, Oyu Tolgoi signed a $4.4 billion project finance facility, which was an unprecedented milestone for Turquoise Hill. Work continues toward completing the 2015 feasibility study, including the updated capital estimate and securing all necessary permits for the development of the underground mine. Once these steps have been completed, which is expected in Q1'16, the Company expects a formal 'notice to proceed' decision by the boards of Turquoise Hill, Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi in early Q2'16.
Oyu Tolgoi Production Data
All data represents full production and sales on a 100% basis
| 4Q 2014 | 1Q 2015 | 2Q 2015 | 3Q 2015 | 4Q 2015 | Full Year 2015 | Full Year 2014 | |||||||||
| Open pit material mined ('000 tonnes) | 18,944 | 21,999 | 22,094 | 23,969 | 23,708 | 91,771 | 76,919 | ||||||||
| Ore treated ('000 tonnes) | 7,505 | 7,512 | 9,025 | 8,632 | 9,369 | 34,537 | 27,872 | ||||||||
| Average mill head grades: | |||||||||||||||
| Copper (%) | 0.74 | 0.52 | 0.69 | 0.75 | 0.69 | 0.67 | 0.60 | ||||||||
| Gold (g/t) | 1.46 | 0.48 | 1.09 | 0.56 | 0.92 | 0.78 | 0.86 | ||||||||
| Silver (g/t) | 1.65 | 1.16 | 1.46 | 1.90 | 1.67 | 1.56 | 1.60 | ||||||||
| Concentrates produced ('000 tonnes) | 186.7 | 130.9 | 215.5 | 210.3 | 231.8 | 788.5 | 563.6 | ||||||||
| Average concentrate grade (% Cu) | 26.9 | 25.7 | 25.6 | 26.6 | 24.7 | 25.6 | 26.3 | ||||||||
| Production of metals in concentrates: | |||||||||||||||
| Copper ('000 tonnes) | 50.3 | 33.6 | 55.3 | 56.0 | 57.3 | 202.2 | 148.4 | ||||||||
| Gold ('000 ounces) | 278 | 86 | 238 | 123 | 207 | 653 | 589 | ||||||||
| Silver ('000 ounces) | 286 | 184 | 297 | 388 | 355 | 1,223 | 893 | ||||||||
| Concentrate sold ('000 tonnes) | 262.7 | 167.7 | 189.8 | 226.0 | 236.2 | 819.8 | 733.7 | ||||||||
| Sales of metals in concentrates: | |||||||||||||||
| Copper ('000 tonnes) | 67.6 | 42.1 | 46.3 | 58.2 | 54.7 | 201.3 | 185.8 | ||||||||
| Gold ('000 ounces) | 263 | 200 | 177 | 200 | 160 | 737 | 561 | ||||||||
| Silver ('000 ounces) | 383 | 219 | 245 | 334 | 360 | 1,158 | 1,093 | ||||||||
| Metal recovery (%) | |||||||||||||||
| Copper | 90.7 | 86.8 | 88.6 | 86.4 | 88.4 | 87.6 | 89.1 | ||||||||
| Gold | 78.6 | 71.6 | 75.6 | 76.4 | 74.2 | 74.4 | 76.6 | ||||||||
| Silver | 71.6 | 65.4 | 70.6 | 73.0 | 70.8 | 69.9 | 62.3 | ||||||||
About Turquoise Hill Resources
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Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements and information are included in the "Risk Factors" section of the Annual Information Form dated as of March 20, 2015 in respect of the year ended December 31, 2014.
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