Name of the Project
Cononish gold/silver project.

Location
Cononish, Scotland.

Project Owner/s
Scotgold Resources.

Project Description
Cononish has estimated reserves of 555 000 t grading 11.1 g/t of gold.

The mining method selected for the orebody is retreat, sublevel open stoping.

Average production is estimated at 23 370 oz over an 11-year mine life.

The Cononish processing plant will be built in two phases.

Phase 1 will provide a throughput of 36 000 t/y of ore and will comprise crushing, grinding, gravity concentration, froth flotation and dewatering sections.  

Phase 2 will provide a throughput of 72 000 t/y and will involve expansion of the grinding, gravity concentration and froth flotation sections.  The crushing section will be capable of the Phase 2 throughput of 72 000 t/y from commissioning.

Potential Job Creation
The project is expected to create 63 jobs at full production.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
£26.8-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Scotgold Resources has accessed higher-grade ore zones at the Cononish gold/silver project quicker than expected on the back of the company’s optimising the mine design to open up faces of ore underground.

Mining in the latter part of June accessed ore peaking at 40 g/t.

The company says mining in this zone will continue for two months and should return a blended average grade above 10 g/t gold.

Despite the inroads made with underground access, Scotgold reports that a bearing failure in the process plant ball mill has hampered efforts towards achieving full ramp-up.

To avoid these issues in future and take on a more preventive maintenance approach, Scotgold is following a risk analysis approach. This, once fully implemented, will increase the reliability of the mine and process plant operations and allow for more consistent runtime.

Scotgold aims to ship its second shipment of gold concentrate during the first half of July.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Scotgold Resources, tel +44 1 838 400 306 or email sgz@scotgoldresources.com.