Turquoise Hill Resources today announced third quarter 2017 production for Oyu Tolgoi.

Jeff Tygesen, Chief Executive Officer of Turquoise Hill, said, “During the third quarter, Oyu Tolgoi set three operational records for total material mined, ore treated and average daily concentrator throughput. We are extremely proud of what the nearly all-Mongolian operations team achieved for the quarter. Copper production for the quarter was in-line with second quarter while gold production increased almost 30%.”
In Q3’17, material mined increased 9.0% over Q2’17 and ore treated increased 10.1% over Q2’17. During Q2’17, the concentrator underwent a scheduled maintenance shutdown. Average daily concentrator throughput for Q3’17 of 115,400 tonnes increased 8.9% over Q2’17. Copper production in Q3’17 was essentially flat compared to Q2’17 while Q3’17 gold production increased 29.2% over Q2’17 due to higher head grades from the medium-grade stockpile and Phase 4A. Higher gold grades during Q3’17 resulted in a 26.1% increase in gold sales compared to Q2’17.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 130,000 to 160,000 tonnes of copper and 100,000 to 140,000 ounces of gold in concentrates for 2017. Open-pit operations are expected to mine in Phases 4 and 6 during the year. In addition, stockpiled ore will continue to be processed during 2017.