Delivery of the owner operated fleet has started for Gold miner, Lachlan Star at the CMD gold mine in Chile. Once operational and sufficient operators have been certified to operate the equipment, the fleet will gradually be phased into mining at the Tres Perlas pit. In the interim, mining has continued using contractors with 30 t trucks and has successfully mined 2 Mt total movement/month for each of the past three months, a record since 2006. The addition of the 100 t Komatsu truck fleet is expected to provide both cost savings and the ability to ramp up total mining movements. The delivery includes the following equipment:

• Two x HD785 trucks
• One x D275 dozer
• Two x WA900 loaders
• One x GD675 Grader 
• One x WD 600 wheeled dozer.

Operator training on this equipment has commenced with the first intake expected to be certified prior to Christmas and the second intake to be certified by mid January 2013. The remaining five HD 785 trucks will be delivered prior to Xmas, which is in line with the previous guidance on delivery of the owner mining fleet. The Maintenance and Repair Contract (MARC) with Komatsu has been executed and includes the provision of a major component exchange pool and an on site spare parts consignment stock.

Implementation of the continuous improvement program continues to yield results with the focus on blasting practices having seen the cost of blasting reduced materially during 2012. During November, explosive consumption (powder factors) has been reduced to the lowest in 2012. This has been achieved through better planning, improved blasting practices and working with the company’s explosive supplier to optimise blasting practices.