PERTH (miningweekly.com) - A scoping study into emerging miner Aphrodite Gold’s namesake project, in Western Australia, has found that the project could produce some 550 000 oz over a nine-year life-of-mine.

The preferred mining scenario selected was a contractor-operated, selective openpit and underground mine providing feed to an on-site processing plant, at a nominal rate of around 750 000 t/y.

The total project life has been estimated at nine years, with the openpit operation running between the first and fifth year, with the underground mine operating between the second and eight year.

Peak gold production of around 84 000 oz/y would be reached during the second and sixth year of operations.

The scoping study estimated a capital cost of around A$108-million for the processing plant, with a further A$10-million in infrastructure capital and A$37-million for prestripping. An additional sustaining capital cost over the life-of-mine is estimated at around A$89-million, including underground development.

Consultants have now recommended that the Aphrodite project should move to the prefeasibility stage, adding that there was strong justification for additional expenditure and effort to develop the deposit.

They also recommended that both the fully integrated process plant option and the processing of ore to produce a high gold grade concentrate for toll treatment or outright sale be examined in the next stage of project development.

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