Cloncurry miner Tombola Gold achieved its second gold pour early this month, but has been working through further mechanical problems at the Great Australia Mine processing plant.

The second gold pour was achieved on March 4 of 9.66 kg of gold – which was despatched to ABC Refineries, earning $724,000.

Tombola said processing at the GAM plant was continuing after a setback where a spool from the cyclone feed pump developed a hole that needed to be repaired, causing four days’ stoppage.

The mill resumed processing on March 6.

It follows a crusher breakdown late last year that delayed Tombola’s first gold pour from its North-West Queensland operations.

The company has been hauling ore from the Comstock and Shamrock pits within its Mount Freda gold complex to the GAM plant, which it is leasing from True North Copper.

As of the end of February, 40,000t of ore had been crushed at GAM, with another 16,000t waiting to be crushed at the GAM ROM pad and 36,000t remaining at the mine ROM pad.

With the benefit of a new installation of cyanide treatment, the company will be making a decision on the viability of processing ore at Golden Mile after working through the material at GAM.

Tombola said recovered grades during the month had been lower than expected based on the grade estimates from the geological resource block model and in-pit grade control sampling results.

“The reasons for the lower grades than predicted from the resource and grade control modelling are currently being assessed, but there appears to have been additional dilution during mining coupled with a greater orebody complexity (understanding that the mineralisation consists of narrow sub-vertical vein gold lodes),” it reported in an update to the ASX.

“Additionally, final mill reconciliations still need to be carried out once decommissioning has been completed.”