Red 5 has achieved a crowning achievement at its King of the Hills mine in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields: the completion of its first gold pour.

The company said the milestone was met 5 June on schedule and marks the beginning of a new operating regime for the operation, which it wholly owns.

The first smelt from KOTH delivered two gold dore bars weighing in at 1,588 ounces. With the gravity and elution circuits recently commissioned, the gyratory crushing circuit has been running on a combination of oxide and fresh material for over 40 days with throughput rates above 1,600 tonnes per hour.

The grinding circuit and wet plant also are continuing to ramp up; the mine’s SAG mill is now achieving throughput rates over 600 tonnes per hour at a moderate mill load and power draw.

Next on the list for King of the Hills: increasing the mill production rate and completing outstanding items with its EPC contractor; both are to be done in the coming weeks.

“The team is well placed to increase the KOTH processing plant to full capacity, with over 800,000 tonnes, or approximately two months of feed stock now on the ROM pad,” said Red 5 MD Mark Williams.

“This achievement … marks the beginning of a new era for Red 5, with the new 4.7-Mtpa King of the Hills processing plant set to become a highly efficient production hub. There are promising signs regarding future throughput potential and with two months of feed stocks ready for processing and mining now well established, we have a strong platform to build upon.”

KOTH has a 16-year expected mine life.

Source: Red 5