JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Aureus Mining expects to resume processing operations at its New Liberty gold mine, in Liberia, within two weeks, pending approval from the Liberia Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (MLME).
The company earlier this month said it had temporarily suspended processing operations at the mine owing to problems with the detoxification circuit, which had not been operating to original design specifications, resulting in higher concentrations of weak acid dissociated cyanide in the process effluent.
The plant had been operating with process water in a closed circuit, with zero discharge from the tailings storage facility (TSF); however, recent heavy rainfall had inadvertently resulted in a small overflow of effluent from the TSF into the wetlands area within the mining lease area.
Aureus noted on Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia had granted permission for the construction of holding zones within the wetlands area downstream of the TSF to enable improved aeration of surface water and improved retention times.
The gold miner had also sought input from detoxification experts from Maelgwyn Mineral Services Africa and TSF design expert Knight Piésold Consulting to assist with modifications to the process plant and detoxification circuit. This would ensure that discharges into the TSF would comply with the mine’s environmental and operating permits.
The MLME and EPA would oversee the restart of the processing operations to ensure the process complied with the International Cyanide Management Code.
Mining operations at New Liberty have continued uninterrupted, with ore being stockpiled.