TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada-based Banro Corporation expects that an agreement to buy a refurbished gold plant from Australia will help the company fast-track its Twangiza project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, into production.

The 1,3-million ton a year plant is part of a plan to bring Twangiza into production in stages, starting by processing low-cost oxide material, Banro said on Thursday.

After the sale closes, likely next month, the plant will be shipped to Mombasa, in Kenya, and then transported by road to the Twangiza site, where it will be erected and commissioned.

This process could take around 24 months, but Banro plan to look for ways to shorten the timeline as the project develops.

The refurbished plant comprises a crushing plant, two ball mills, a carbon-in-pulp section, gold room and a laboratory.

The company's consultant, Senet Engineering, estimates the total cost of purchasing and delivering the plant to Twangiza to be less than $15-million, which represents “significant savings in time and cost” to Banro, the firm said.

Senet has been hired as overall project manager and will also manage the erection and commissioning of the plant.

Banro expects that annual production from the phase-one plant will be between 80 000 oz and 110 000 oz a year, at a total operating cost of less than $400/oz.

The company estimates the capital cost for phase one of the project (which phase is planned to use diesel power rather than hydroelectric power) to be approximately $145-million, including contingencies.

The company has started talks with “a number of parties” to arrange debt financing. It raised C$100-million in an equity financing in June.

An updated feasibility study for the Twangiza project, announced on June 8, indicated full production at the Twangiza project could reach more than 300 000 oz/y, based on current resources.

Shares in Banro, which also has three other gold projects on the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the DRC, rose 1,33% on Thursday, to C$2,28 apiece by 13:42 in Toronto.

On August 11, the company reported that the government of the DRC had ratified, with “minor modification”, a key fiscal agreement reached between the government and the company in February.