GR Engineering Services has received a Letter of Intent from K92 Mining Ltd, a subsidiary of TSX-listed K92 Mining Inc, for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works associated with a 1.2 Mt/y process plant at the Kainantu gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

K92 Mining owns and operates Kainantu, a producing gold mine that has existing infrastructure at site. The EPC works are being performed as part of K92 Mining’s Stage 3 Expansion plans.

K92 Mining has successfully executed multiple expansions at the Kainantu Gold Mine, after restarting operations at the site in 2016.

In addition to the award of the contract, all process plant long-lead item contracts have already been awarded on a fixed price (excluding freight), to CITIC HIC Australia Pty Ltd for the SAG and ball mills, Jord International Pty Ltd for the filter press and Metso for the tank flotation cells, flash flotation cells and high-rate thickeners, K92 says.

The contract sum for the EPC contract is $81 million, with GR Engineering having commenced engineering works on an agreed scope and cost basis. The contract is expected to be finalised by the end of August 2023.

Tony Patrizi, Managing Director, said: “GR Engineering is a leading gold EPC contractor and has previous experience on PNG projects through our Brisbane office. We are looking forward to assisting K92 Mining achieve their expansion plans and to delivering a safe outcome for the project.”

K92 says commissioning of the 1.2 Mt/y Stage 3 Expansion process plant is targeting the end of the March quarter of 2025.