Name of the Project
Leonora gold project.

Location
The project comprises the Mertondale, Cardinia and Raeside areas in the Mt Margaret mineral field, in the centre of Australia’s Eastern goldfields.

Client
Kin Mining.

Project Description
A scoping study has shown that it could produce an estimated 315 600 oz of gold over a seven-year project life.

It envisages a standard truck-and-shovel configuration.

At peak production, two separate fleets will operate – a 100 t excavator (Komatsu PC1250 or similar), paired with a 90 t rigid body dump trucks (Cat 777 or similar); and a smaller 75 t excavator (Cat 374 or similar), paired with 40 t articulated trucks (Cat 740 or similar).

The larger mining fleet will operate in the large, but simple-to-mine pits of  Mertondale 3/4, Mert’s Reward, Tonto, Eclipse and Michelangelo/Leonardo.

The smaller mining fleet will be used in the remaining mining areas, which are narrow (entire mining area or cutback) in nature.

Once on site, there might be adequate flexibility to use either fleet in a particular area to produce the best outcome, such as prestripping waste using the larger fleet or using the smaller fleet recovering ounces at the base of the larger pits using the smaller fleet.

Processing will start two months after mining to allow for a build-up of stockpiles. At steady-state production, the processing plant will run at a throughput rate of one-million tonnes a year.

The operation is expected to deliver 30 500 oz of gold in its first year of operation, peaking at 65 800 oz in Year 5 of operation and declining to 10 500 oz in its final year.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Based on a gold price of AS1 500/oz, the project will have a net present value of A$56.3-million and an internal rate of return of 30%, with a payback of 45 months.

Value
An estimated A$55-million will be required to complete the project.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Kin has poured its first gold at its Leonora gold project, as part of a trial mining programme at the Lewis deposit.

CEO Trevor Dixon has said that this pour not only demonstrates the company’s ability to take a trial project from design, permitting and mine development h to the production of bullion but also further derisks the Leonora project.

Two gold pours have been completed to date at the Lakewood toll milling facility, in Kalgoorlie.

Kin announced in August that it would update the prefeasibility study on the Leonora gold project, completed by the project's previous owner in 2009. The company is planning to use historical data to develop an enhanced optimised mine plan that will result in ore being delivered from mines at Mertondale, Cardinia, Tonto-Eclipse and Raeside to a centrally located standalone carbon-in-leach treatment plant.

The updated study will evaluate the establishment of either a standalone one-million-tonne-a-year processing plant or a standalone 600 000 t/y plant set up for future expansion to one-million tonnes a year.

Dixon has noted that the trial mining at the Lewis deposit will assist in updating the feasibility study by allowing Kin to visually observe the structural controls on the mineralisation within the openpit, determine and apply realistic modifying parameters to move from resource to reserve and determine optimal geotechnical parameters. Kin will also gain an understanding of soft oxide materials' handling through the mill, and be able to verify ore grades and total gold recovery, and provide bulk samples for low-grade heap leaching work.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Kin Mining, tel +61 8 9242 2227 or email info@kinmining.com.au.