The world class Çöpler (80% SSR Mining owned, acquired when SSR merged with Alacer Gold in September 2020) gold mine is located in east-central Turkey in the Erzincan Province and has been operating since 2010. It processes ore through two producing plants – the oxide and sulphide plants. The oxide ore is processed via heap leach and the sulphide ore is processed using pressure oxidation.

The 2020 Çöpler technical report, planned to be issued in the fourth quarter of 2020, SSR Mining says will update investors on the operating parameters of the mine’s processing plant and include the results of optimisation studies and programs, including a proposed supplemental flotation circuit. Detailed engineering for a new proposed flotation circuit is underway and the final construction decision remains subject to final Board and other approvals once the technical work is complete. If approved, the flotation circuit commissioning is targeted for the third quarter of 2021. The proposed flotation circuit was included in a recent amendment to the Çöpler Environmental Impact Assessment application.

The proposed flotation circuit would treat a side stream from the grinding circuit, with the concentrate reporting to autoclave feed and the tails to leaching. Studies indicate a negative recovery impact due to the float tails recovery; however, such impact will be more than offset by increased plant throughput. The currently-installed grinding mills have demonstrated significant latent capacity, sufficient to support an increase in sulphide plant throughput capacity up to approximately 3 Mt/y. The preliminary capital estimate for the proposed flotation circuit is approximately $15 million. The flotation circuit is anticipated to increase the gold and sulphur grades processed through the autoclaves (increasing autoclave and oxygen utilisation), reduce unit costs, and increase total sulphide plant throughput and gold production.