PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Kingsgate Consolidated on Wednesday told shareholders that production from Plant #2 at its Chatree gold mine, in Thailand, is above nameplate capacity, while work has now started on the refurbishment of Plant #1.
Chatree was officially reopened in March this year, and the project poured its first gold later that month.
Production has built up to approximately 500 oz of gold a week, at an average feed grade of 0.5 g/t gold, with recoveries consistently averaging around 85%.
“Bearing in mind we are only processing ore from the low-grade stockpiles so far, this is an excellent result, and the plant is already operating beyond expectations so early after start-up, with only minimal downtime to date,” Kingsgate told shareholders in a statement.
In addition to starting the refurbishment of Plant #1, the company is also focusing on restarting mining operations sooner than anticipated, beginning with stripping of the Quartz Lease in the A Pit.
Kingsgate was forced to place its Chatree gold miner on care and maintenance at the start of 2017, after the Thai government in 2016 announced that all gold mining in the country would cease.