PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified metals miner Aurelia Metals has completed the commissioning of a A$53-million upgrade to its Peak ore processing circuit, in New South Wales.
The ASX-listed Aurelia said on Wednesday that the Peak process plant now had the flexibility to produce gold dore and separate copper, lead and zinc concentrate at throughput rates of up to 800 000 t/y of high-grade gold and base metal feed.
The new sections of the upgraded Peak ore processing circuit were tied into the existing plant during the first week of February, and commissioning of the circuit was undertaken and completed during February and early March using separate batches of copper and lead/zinc ores.
“We are pleased to report the major upgrade of the Peak processing circuit has been commissioned on time and in line with guidance. While we remain a gold-dominant business, the Peak plant upgrade delivers significantly greater flexibility to unlock value from various high-grade copper, lead and zinc ores, enabling increased level of throughput, reduced unit costs and increased cash flow,” said Aurelia MD and CEO Dan Clifford.
The upgraded processing circuit would now start processing the lead/zinc ore from the Chronos resource, surrounding the high-grade gold/lead core at Peak, and in subsequent years would process high-grade gold/lead/zinc ore from the recently discovered Kairos zone.