Adriatic Metals has published its first production guidance for the Vares silver project in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ore will start to be mined this year and rise to between 250-300,000 tonnes, ramp up to between 750-850,000t in 2025 and plateau at 850-900,000t from 2026 to 2040.
The first concentrate is expected to be produced in the current quarter though Adriatic said there have been some delays because of the disruption to shipping in the Suez Canal.
External infrastructure such as roads, railway, electricity, water treatment and additional support services have been completed, with the final tranche of funding from Orion drawn down.
Quarterly debt repayments of the Orion funds will now start in December 2024 rather than June as previously agreed.
Paul Cronin, Adriatic’s chief executive, said the mine plan was comprehensive and would give a greater understanding of the life-of-mine production profile.
Even with the shipping delays, he expects 2024 to be a solid year of initial production, and facilitate the underground development required to consistently "produce at or above nameplate" from the final quarter of the current year onwards.