Titan Minerals Ltd. shares climbed 20% during afternoon trading on the ASX as its unit Vista Gold SAC secured a permit to operate its Vista gold plant in Peru at up to 350 tonnes per day.

The ASX-listed miner said May 27 that it will kick off operations at 80 tpd, and that it anticipates to produce 700 ounces of gold during initial trials and commissioning.

The Vista gold plant has a nameplate capacity of 150 tonnes per day, and Titan intends to ramp up the production rate to 120 tpd within six months.

The company noted that it expects the increase in output in the next six months to more than double the output of the previous year, when it produced 6,957 ounces of gold and 8,600 ounces of silver at its Tulin gold plant.