Nixon Fork is a gold-copper mine aiming to produce 50,000 oz/y of gold. The mine is a historical producer located within the Tintina gold belt in Alaska, USA, and was recommissioned by Mystery Creek Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fire River Gold. XPS Plant Support Group personnel worked closely with the Nixon Fork owner’s team to provide oversight and training during the final stages of construction, and during commissioning of the CIL plant.

XPS provided a team of experienced mineral processors to assist Nixon Fork personnel. “……… although our mill operators have several years of experience, none of them have gone through a greenfields startup of a CIL plant. XPS has provided the much needed expertise and guidance to the workforce so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I honestly don’t know how we could have gone up the learning curve as rapidly as we did without the XPS team supporting us” says Tim Smith, Fire River Gold’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

XPS developed the operating procedures for the CIL plant and produced operator training packages which explain the theory behind what is happening metallurgically and how it relates to situations happening in the plant. “This is a very important step in producing effective and competent operators.Operator training usually focuses on how to operate a circuit mechanically with only cursory explanations of the metallurgy.Having an understanding of the metallurgy allows an operator to make more informed decisions and successfully troubleshoot when operating a circuit” says Mike Papadakis, XPS’s Manager of Plant Support and Laboratory Operations.

The Plant Support group is the newest business unit within Xstrata Process Support (XPS). It offers a range of services focusing on in-plant, hands-on technical assistance.The group consists of a team of experienced metallurgists available to assist with commissioning activities, process optimization, process review, debottlenecking, project management, troubleshooting, concentrate marketing development, plant surveys, sampling and modeling.The Plant Support group can also provide metallurgists and technicians on contract.