Centerra Gold (TSX: CG) has declared commercial production at its ?-ks? 1/4 t mine in Turkey, four months after it poured first gold at the operation.
The Toronto-based company now has three producing mines, including Kumtor in the Kyrgyz Republic and Mount Milligan in British Columbia.
"Commercial production at ?-ks? 1/4 t marks a major milestone for the company. ?-ks? 1/4 t was delivered on time and under budget," CEO Scott Perry said in a statement.
The Turkish mine, located in the country's south-central Kayseri province, was planned as a conventional truck and shovel open-pit heap leach operation, with a stacking rate of 11,000 tonnes per day.
The initial eight-year mine life was expected to process about 1.2 million contained oz. gold from two open pits, the Keltepe pit and the smaller G? 1/4 neytepe pit.
Centerra acquired the asset in 2013.
Company-wide gold production in the first quarter rose to 190,474 oz. from 183,563 oz. in the same period a year ago, Centerra said in its last earnings report.
That includes 152,307 oz. at Kumtor, 33,681 oz. at Mount Milligan and 4,486 oz. at ?-ks? 1/4 t during the start-up phase.
Copper production at Mount Milligan during the first quarter was 20.1 million pounds.
- This article first appeared in MINING.com.