PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed KBL Mining has sold its first concentrate from the Pearse openpit at its Mineral Hill gold-silver operation, in New South Wales.
The first consignment of 793 dry metric tonnes of concentrate, grading 68 g/t gold and 370 g/t silver, contained some 1 750 oz of gold and 9 500 oz of silver.
Some 700 000 t of ore and waste had been moved from the Pearse openpit since blasting operations started late in May. Oxide and transitional ore from the upper part of the orebody had been stockpiled as had low-grade sulphide ore, which would be treated at a later date.
In conjunction with the first gold-silver sale from Pearse, the new carbon-in-leach plant had also moved into the first stages of commissioning, with the tanks filled with water, electrical safety systems checked and the plant substation powered.
Control equipment would be installed and tested before carbon was introduced next week and the first oxide ore and flotation tails would be fed into the leach tanks before the end of the month.