Westmin pares quarterly loss

Productivity improvements at the Myra Falls mine enabled Westmin Resources (TSE) to achieve its best quarterly results in seven quarters, a net loss of $3.23 million for the 1992 first quarter compared with a loss of $5.18 million for the same period a year earlier.

Westmin said operating costs at Myra Falls dropped to below $50 per tonne in the first three months of this year from over $65 per tonne a year earlier. The underground mine is on Vancouver Island near Campbell River, B.C., and produces copper and zinc concentrates with precious metal credits. Westmin expects to generate considerable profits at Myra Falls once it begins mining the high-grade Battle and Gap zone discoveries. Development work on the H-W 18 level is expected to reach the Battle zone in the fourth quarter of this year.