JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The inaugural gold pour from Liberia’s first commercial gold mine is now expected at the end of May, as TSX- and Aim-listed Aureus Mining starts the hot and cold commissioning phases of the New Liberty project.

The first gold pour was initially expected in March; however, the widespread outbreak of Ebola in Liberia, which now had the epidemic under control with no new cases reported, had increased the difficulty of operating in the region.

Further plant optimisation and final commissioning was expected in June, with steady-state production expected by the end of July.

The West Africa-focused gold exploration and development company had completed the commissioning of the primary jaw crusher and secondary cone crushing circuits.

Further, the mechanical and electrical cold commissioning of the screening circuit was completed, while the conveyor system’s belts were all successfully tracked, trained and running, said president and CEO David Reading in an update to shareholders on Tuesday.

The company also reported that the ball mill had been fully installed with all alignments completed, while the mill motor had been synchronised and direction tested and the electrowinning circuit was mechanically installed and leak testing completed.

The piping and electrical wiring in the carbon-in-leach, elution, milling and detox circuits were under way and, with the stockpile tunnel mechanical installation concluded, the electrical installation was now 60% complete.

“The thickener mechanical installation has been completed and painting is now in progress, while the electrical installation is over 80% complete in this area,” Reading said.

Meanwhile, work on the tailings storage facility was on track, with current storage capacity sufficient for the first 15 months of processing operations.

The power generation system was also fully commissioned and all six generators were now synchronised.