Red River Resources Ltd (ASX:RVR) (FRA:R1R) has poured first gold at its Hillgrove Gold Mine in northern New South Wales, with the first bar poured weighing 0.97 kilograms and grading 83% gold and 13% silver.
Pouring of the first gold bar at Hillgrove in more than 20 years came after the company completed commissioning of the gold plant.
The start of gold production at Hillgrove represents a material step in the company’s strategy to build a multi-asset operating business focused on base and precious metals.
Red River managing director Mel Palancian said: “Red River completed the Hillgrove Gold Mine acquisition in August 2019 for A$4 million in RVR shares and we decided that the best way to bring this project back into production was through treating material from the Bakers Creek stockpile before resuming underground operations, with methodical permitting, refurbishment and upgrade activities to execute our strategy.”
Shares were as much as four per cent higher intra-day to 26 cents while the company's market cap is approximately $129.4 million.
Mining and processing ramps up
Plant production is ramping up with gold recovery to flotation gold concentrate and Knelson gravity gold concentrate performing in line with expectations.
Red River has installed a Consep Acacia Leach Reactor at Hillgrove to maximise recovery of gold from the Knelson gravity gold concentrate.
The plant consists of an up-flow fluidised reactor for the leaching process, which has been developed and optimised to produce the ideal solid-liquid interaction for maximised gold leaching reaction kinetics without mechanical agitation.
After initial low-grade commissioning feed, stockpile grades are meeting expectations as mining and processing activities continue to ramp up, with an estimated 800-1,000 ounces of gold in the circuit currently.
"A material step"
Palancian said: “I would like to thank our employees, consultants and contractors who have contributed to this significant achievement.
"The start of gold production at Hillgrove represents a material step in our strategy to build a multi-asset operating business focused on base and precious metals."
To date, around 18,000 tonnes of Bakers Creek Stockpile has been mined and processed through the Hillgrove Plant.
The MD added: “I look forward to updating the market as we increase gold production from the Bakers Creek Stockpile in Stage 1 before we move to the full restart of UG production in Stage 2, producing gold, gold concentrate and gold-antimony concentrate.”