Kavango Resources plc has started building a 50 tonne-a-day carbon in pulp (CIP) gold processing plant at the Bill’s Luck gold mine within its Hillside gold project in Zimbabwe.
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The move follows the discovery last week of new gold “reefs”, which led the company to expect that the Bill’s Luck gold system is much larger than originally believed.
Kavango is already mining at Bill’s Luck with the main shaft delivering around 30 t/d ore.
The Bill’s Luck CIP test plant, fed solely with ore produced from the main shaft mined by Kavango, is expected to increase overall gold production within three months.
Currently, the company’s Hillside milling centre, including three stamp mills and 12 in-ground VAT leach tanks, is fully occupied by ore production from local contract miners.
This leaves, as at 27 June, 820 tonnes of ore stockpile at the main shaft produced by Kavango, with a weighted average gold grade of 2.55 grams a tonne, awaiting processing.
Kavango said it will also increase processing capacity in the milling circuit with the installation of a roller mill, from 30t/d to 60t/d.
The new CIP test plant will include a three-tonne per hour crushing circuit, two two-tonne-per hour ball mills, 10 x CIP leach tanks and a 10-hectare tailings storage facility.
Improvements to the main shaft’s hoisting system will increase in daily ore production to 70t/d.
At the time of commissioning, Kavango forecasts that a 3,500t ore stockpile will be available for processing in the new 50t/d plant.
General manager Everjoy Ngomamiti added: “I joined Kavango with the explicit mission to increase gold production.
“Our primary objective over the next 12 months is to build a 200t/d gold processing plant at one of Kavango’s projects.
“While we still have to decide which of our three main projects we will place that plant at, it is clear that a test plant at Bill’s Luck can provide a more immediate impact for the company.
“The 50t/d test plant will give our production team the opportunity to work on a more ambitious capital project. This will be valuable experience in preparation for installing the 200t/d plant early next year.”