A review of metallurgical test work has supported the development of a planned process route for gold recovery at Armadale’s 678,000oz Mpokoto gold project in the Katanga Province of the DRC. A production rate of about 25,000 oz/y of gold over an initial nine year life of mine is targeted to commence at the project in first half 2016, with an average projected operating cost of $647/oz.
As part of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Mpokoto, Armadale has completed a review of all previous metallurgical test work. The evaluation encompasses all historic work going back to 2005, through to the most recent gravity and leaching test work produced by Peacock and Simpson in 2015. Based on the review and recent results Armadale has selected a process route for the first phase of the project.
In Phase 1, when the majority of the ore feed is weathered and deeply oxidised, the plant will consist of scrubbing, milling, a batch Knelson concentrator to recover the free gold, and flotation of the Knelson tailings. The flotation concentrate will be intensively cyanided.
In Phase 2, as the amount of weathered ore decreases and the proportion of transitional and fresh ore increases, a regrind ball mill will be added to grind the flotation concentrate and a CIL circuit will be added to leach the flotation tailings.
Recoveries of between 88% and 90% are expected on the weathered ore and 84% on the transitional and fresh ore, prior to the CIL circuit being added. During the DFS further test work will be completed to determine the effect of adding the CIL circuit to the treatment of transitional and fresh ores.
Dr Andrew Tunks, the newly appointed Director of Armadale, said, “Settling on a final process route for the Mpokoto gold project is another significant step forward in the development path of our low CAPEX, low OPEX operation. With drilling on track to commence imminently to add additional tonnages to the current project resource of 678,000 oz and an agreement in place with Africa Mining Contracting Services (A-MCS) to fund develop, construct and operate Mpokoto, the project is rapidly progressing towards first gold production in 2016.”
Armadale Capital is focused on investing in and developing a portfolio of investments, targeting the natural resources sector in Africa. The company has a strategy of identifying high growth businesses where it can take an active role in their advancement. Mpokoto is the primary project and has a current Total Mineral Resource of 678,000 oz Au from 14.58 Mt @ 1.45 g/t Au at a cutoff grade of 0.5 g/t. An expanded scoping study for Mpokoto showed a post-tax NPV of $55.3 million based upon a discount rate of 8% and a gold price of $1,250/oz. The project is subject to four Mining Licences which are valid for an initial term of 30 years from 30 September 2014.