Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) has successfully commissioned the wet gravity separation plant at its Nickol River Gold Project east of Karratha in Western Australia.
The first ore processing commenced on 27 May 2017, with 7,869 tonnes of ore having now been treated.
A total of 1,994.6 grams of gold (64.12 ounces) have been recovered up to 4 June 2017 at an average grade of 0.25 g/t gold.
The mining operations and the operation of the plant are still in the “development phase” and Artemis is now in the process of progressing towards the commencement of full mining operations.
Full mining operations are expected to commence in the next few weeks following the receipt of final approvals from regulatory bodies.
Artemis plans to gradually increase plant tonnage rates from 990 tonnes per day achieved during the commissioning phase to around 1,800-2,000 tonnes per day over the next month.
During the last 8 weeks since the plant’s arrival on site, a total of 25,543 tonnes of material has been processed from old mine stockpiles.
A total of 2,875 grams (92.43 ounces) of gold has now been physically recovered from pre-commissioning and commissioning material, with an estimated purity of between 95 to 97% gold.
Artemis also owns the fully permitted 425,000 tonnes per annum Radio Hill nickel and copper operations, processing plant and associated tenements in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.