Gold Road Resources Ltd and Gruyere Mining Co, a member of the Gold Fields Ltd group provide an update on development activities at the Gruyere gold project, which is being developed as a 50:50 Joint Venture approximately 200 km east of Laverton in Western Australia. With early works at Gruyere having started in December 2016, construction has now been in progress for more than 12 months. The project remains on schedule to pour first gold at the end of the first quarter of 2019. Costs incurred to date are also in line with the budgeted overall project capital of $532 million.
Gruyere Project Director Sim Lau said “A great deal has been achieved in the past 12 months, which is testament to the efforts of the project team and our contractors. With project engineering 72% complete and construction 32% complete, we remain confident that the Gruyere gold project will be brought into production on schedule and within budget in early 2019.”
- Mining contract awarded to Downer EDI Mining Pty Ltd
- Final approval received for construction of gas pipeline
- Gruyere main access road open ahead of schedule
- Airstrip completed, awaiting CASA certification for 100‐seat aircraft
- Process plant construction progressing well.
Under its five‐year $400 million mining services contract, Downer EDI will begin mobilising its workforce in the March 2018 quarter to commence construction of the mining infrastructure. Mining activities are scheduled to commence in the December 2018 quarter.
Amec Foster Wheeler Civmec Joint Venture (ACJV), the EPC contractor, had poured 4,200 m3 of concrete in the process plant area, including the largest single pour to date of 750 m3 for the primary crusher raft slab. A further 10,500 m3 of concrete is to be poured before the process plant is complete.
Construction of the seven CIL tanks is progressing to schedule. During the quarter, the floor and annular plates for the tanks were transported to site from Civmec’s Henderson facility and welding has commenced on these tanks.
Delivery of the first structural steel for the process plant is scheduled to take place in the March 2018 quarter, as is delivery of the ball mill components, which are currently undergoing final inspection in Perth.
The feasibility study delivered by Gold Road in October 2016 envisaged a large-scale open pit mine feeding a 7.5 Mt/y processing plant and producing an average of 270,000 oz/y of gold over an initial 13-year mine life.
The Gruyere Mineral Resource has since grown to 148 Mt grading 1.3 g/t Au, making it one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Australia.
