Gekko says a second InLine Leach Reactor (ILR) has been ordered by West African Resources for its 90%-owned Sanbrado gold mine in Burkina Faso.

The order is one of several to have emerged on the back of strong gold prices, with interest from a range of milling operations across the globe including Russia, North America, South America and Africa, Gekko says.

First developed in 1997, the ILR has provided an alternative from traditional physical separation steps, such as using recovery tables, into a lucrative chemical separation process.

It offers superior recoveries in a proven, high efficiency, safe and highly secure system, according to the company.

Available as a completely automated batch model for processing high grade gravity gold concentrates, the ILR can also be configured as a continuous model for treating high throughput gold, silver and complex sulphide concentrates from InLine Pressure Jigs and flotation circuits.

“The ILR’s innovative design and unparalleled flexibility in gold and silver leaching chemistry is providing cost and production benefits to operations across more than 40 countries across the globe,” Gekko said.

Construction on Sanbrado commenced in late 2018, with first gold poured in March 2020, six months ahead schedule and $20 million under budget.

West African anticipates Sanbrado will produce between 250,000-280,000 oz of gold at all-in sustaining costs of $720-800/oz.

The company says: “The estimated operating costs for the project highlight that the project will be a conventional, low cost and high margin operation. This is a result of high grade ore from M1 South and the significant proportion of oxide and transition material in the mine schedule and the free milling nature of all ore types (average life of mine recovery of 93%), low reagent consumption and a high component of gravity recoverable gold.”