Tri-Star confirms first commercial-grade dore at Oman facility

Minerals processing company Tri-Star Resources announced that production of commercial grade dore had started at the antimony-gold processing facility in the Port of Sohar Free Zone in the Sultanate of Oman on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm said the facility is owned by Strategic & Precious Metals Processing, in which it holds a 40% interest.

It said it had produced first ingot with a gold concentration in excess of 2% - the minimum commercial grade.

The facility was now focussed on ramping up production and building volumes for sale, with the purity of antimony metal increased to 99.11% - up from 98% in July.

Tri-Star said Strategic & Precious Metals Processing was “confident” of increasing the purity of antimony metal to a commercial grade of at least 99.65%.

It added that it was advancing negotiations in respect of converting the existing Strategic & Precious Metals Processing mezzanine loans into an interest-free shareholder loan, or equity.

“Production of first commercial grade dore is a significant milestone as we look to advance the development of this exciting gold and antimony project and build a leading global position in the market,” said Tri-Star Resources chairman Adrian Collins.

“Whilst there are still challenges to overcome, we have reached a tipping point that will, I believe, result in accelerated activity over the next few months; we look forward to updating shareholders on progress.”