Stornoway Commences Ore Processing at Renard Diamond Project

Stornoway Diamond (TSX:SWY) has announced that processing of ore has commenced at the Renard Diamond project.
As quoted in the press release:

This marks the beginning of a processing ramp-up designed to achieve 100% of plant nameplate capacity (2.16Mtonnes/annum at 78% plant utilization) within 9 months. Commercial production at Renard is defined as the maintenance of ore processing for 30 days at 60% of nameplate capacity.
As of July 13, 2016, 1,002,888 tonnes of ore had been stockpiled, sufficient to commence and maintain the planned ramp-up. Initial production is based on ore sourced directly from the Renard 2-Renard 3 open pit and supplemented from the stockpile as required.
Matt Manson, President and CEO, commented: “The commencement of diamond production at Renard comes exactly 2 years and 5 days since we broke ground for mine construction. Our project execution continues to track several weeks ahead of our (already) re-baselined schedule and well within our capital budget. Our focus now turns to the efficient ramping-up of the process plant and the reconciliation of our principal Mineral Resource and mine operating parameters.”

Click here to read the full press release.