North American Palladium Starts Hoisting at New Shaft

North American Palladium Ltd. (TSX:PDL,NYSEMKT:PAL) announced that it has started hoisting material through the new shaft at its Northern Ontario-based Lac des Iles palladium mine. The shaft is about 825 meters deep and has a maximum hoisting capacity of 8,000 tonnes per day; it is expected to eliminate the current production bottleneck.

As quoted in the press release:

The production, service and auxiliary hoists are now fully operational and the skipping system has been successfully tested with full loads of material.

The complete commissioning of the shaft ore handling system, including the crusher and loading pocket, is on target for completion later in October, following which production is expected to be predominately transitioned from ramp to shaft haulage. This will effectively mark the completion of the mine’s Phase I expansion, enabling NAP to benefit from increased production at a reduced cash cost per ounce.

The Company maintains its target of increasing its underground mining production rate to over 3,000 tonnes per day from the underground Offset Zone during the fourth quarter, with plans to further increase the daily mining rate in 2014.

Click here to read the full North American Palladium Ltd. (TSX:PDL,NYSEMKT:PAL) press release.