Business
Steppe Gold Provides Third Quarter Update Inventory Build up Continues and Near-Term Catalysts
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2021) -   Steppe Gold Limited (TSX: ...
About this update from Steppe Gold Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"Steppe Gold Provides Third Quarter Update Inventory Build up Continues and Near-Term CatalystsUlaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2021) -  Steppe Gold Limited (TSX: STGO) (OTCQX: STPGF) (FSE: 2J9) (\"Steppe Gold\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to provide an update on its third quarter activities, including its operations at the ATO Gold Mine.Steppe Gold is pleased to provide the following updates on the ATO Gold Mine (all figures in USD unless stated):Mining and stacking on the heap leach phase at the ATO Gold Mine has continued in the third quarter uninterrupted. With 1.7 million tonnes stacked on the leach pad and a further 0.6 million tonnes on stacked on the ROM pad, we are pleased to report strong gold and silver inventory build-up through the year. Based on sampling grades on mined and stacked ore, together with estimated unrecovered ore on the leach pad or in the solution or circuit, we estimate that we now have a total of over 40,000 oz of gold in inventory, on a 70% recovery basis, on the leach pad, ROM pad and in circuit. Solid progress has been made on the construction and installation of the new fixed crushing unit and we expect this to be operational by the end of 2021. This is the first major equipment installation for the fresh rock phase, and it will also allow us to drive higher crushing rates in the remaining oxide phase with ample excess capacity in the plant. The boiler house for winter leaching and production is complete and is now in the testing phase.As outlined in previous filings and news releases we have been experiencing supply chain issues since the outbreak of COVID 19 in Mongolia in November 2020. Continuing high rates of COVID 19 in Mongolia have resulted in robust restrictions at the Mongolia-China border for certain goods. This has caused supply disruptions for our ATO mine, that the Company considers to be temporary in nature, representing a deferral of production from 2021 to 2022. These delays have persisted through the third quarter as production was effectively paused in the quarter. Now with the pending onset of winter conditions we are focusing on maximizing our inventory position to set up for a very strong production year in 2022. The Definitive Feasibility Study for the fresh rock expansion is essentially complete and headline numbers are expected to be released b...