Red 5 Ltd (ASX:RED) continues to don the hard hats at its King of the Hills (KOTH) gold asset near Leonora in WA as construction advances on multiple fronts.
During October, Australia’s next mid-tier gold miner continued to install its semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill — a crucial piece of equipment that will transform KOTH ore into finer particles for further processing.
Looking ahead, work on the gyratory crusher is expected to complete this month, while a paint job on the four carbon-in-leach (CIL) tanks is nearly complete.
As construction advances, the KOTH project —with 2.4 million ounces in reserve and a 16-year mine life — is poised to come online in the June quarter of 2022.
Indicative timeline of Red 5’s move to production.
Stepping up a gear
Speaking to the progress to date, Red 5 managing director Mark Williams said work was progressing on schedule and within budget.
“Development at KOTH has really stepped up a gear during October with increased manning levels and construction activities accelerating on multiple fronts, with the SAG mill shell now assembled and the crusher on track to be fully installed within the next few weeks.
“The hot tap into the Goldfields Gas Pipeline is scheduled for mid-November and four more gas engines for the power station are scheduled to arrive in Australia later this month.
“Grade control drilling for the KOTH open pit commenced in October, with results from this program set to de-risk mining in the first year of production.
“The advanced status of many of these work programs means that we remain on track to deliver first gold production from the new KOTH processing plant in the June 2022 quarter, with the construction program also remaining within budget …
“[This is] a testament to the exceptional management of our project execution team led by our Project Manager Warren King and our EPC contracting partner MACA Interquip.”
Key activities
As the end of the year approaches, Red 5 is finalising some of its key construction activities at King of the Hills.
The all-important SAG mill is still under installation, but it can now be rotated in order to apply a final torque and gear alignment.
Work on the ROM retaining wall also progressed, with three-quarters of the 48 lifts now in place.
The four CIL tanks are almost ready to go as RED prepares to tick ‘paint job’ off its to-do list, while the tank agitators, gearboxes, stairs and overflow pipes are now being installed.
In another key step, all motor control centres for the process plant have been erected in the plant switchrooms.
As commissioning draws near, Red 5 is starting to prepare its energy infrastructure.
Specifically, the company is nearing completion on its power station installation project as high-voltage panels are erected and two of the seven gas engines arrive on site.
A gas pipe is also en-route to regional WA as the ASX-lister prepares to connect to the Goldfields Gas Pipeline, which lies in close proximity to its King of the Hills hub.
Finally, earthworks continue to prepare a wall lift for one of the tailings storage facilities.
If all goes to plan, Red 5 will move into the commissioning stage early next year before its first gold pour in 2022’s second half.