Fuel supply remains a day-to-day proposition for miners in Far North Queensland as Savannah Goldfields lifts production at its Georgetown gold processing plant.

The company says it has produced 1465.4oz of gold and 878.6oz of silver since restarting operations on November 7 last year. 

Managing director Brad Sampson said diesel demand was rising as the plant moved towards nameplate production, with current consumption at about 150,000 litres a month.

Main image: Georgetown processing plant

Mr Sampson said the company was in regular contact with suppliers as tensions in the Middle East continued to cloud fuel markets.

“I want the world to sort itself out. Even though we’re talking with suppliers every day, we’re no better informed really than the average Australian,” he said.

“We’re all at the mercy of the imports. It’s one of the things that we can’t control. We keep talking with our suppliers.

“We’re holding in as much stock as we can on site and as much stock as we can in pipeline and that’s all we can do at the moment. I think the world will sort itself out pretty quickly.”

Savannah’s Georgetown operation sources fuel and other supplies from Cairns and Charters Towers.

The pressure on supply chains comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily disrupted by the conflict involving Iran and the United States, keeping oil markets volatile. 

The other support for Savannah has been gold. Over the past six months the metal has remained historically strong, surging to a record above $US5100/oz in late January before easing back to about $US4740/oz in early April. Even after that pullback, bullion remains at elevated levels by historical standards. 

The Georgetown plant restarted in November after a period on care and maintenance. Mr Sampson said the operation was still in a test-and-measure phase, with metallurgists refining the optimum feed blend from different sources.

He said the plant had reached crushing rates equivalent to more than 200,000 tonnes a year over the recent operating period.