Goldplat PLC (LON:GDP) has commissioned the first stage of a new processing plant at the Kilimapesa gold mine in Kenya.
The plant has a design capacity of 200 tonnes per day and will consist of a crusher circuit; mills; a thickener; leach tanks; an elution plant as well as a tailings deposition facility.
The next two stages will involve installation of the crusher circuit and three additional leach tanks and installation of a second mill and a further three additional leach tanks.
To minimise upfront capital expenditure and utilise the company’s expertise, a processing plant from the company’s recovery operation in Ghana was deconstructed, containerised, and shipped to Kenya.
Two additional second-hand mills have also been acquired in South Africa with most of the installation and preparatory work being completed by in-house teams with the exception of overall plant layout, design and tailings dam design.
A stockpile of 6,000 tonnes of crushed ore has been built up, which is sufficient to keep the plant running until the crusher circuit and additional leaching capacity is commissioned.
At end January production was running at 60 tonnes per day or 4,600 ounces of gold production, which should be enough for the mine to profitable.
Second stage will seen production rise to 120 tonnes per day and with the old plant boost production to 6,800 ounces of gold per year.
Gerard Kisbey-Green, Goldplat’s chief executive, said: “Although it is modest in terms of production, we believe it will result in the commencement of sustainable profitability at Kilimapesa.”