Golden moment at King of the Hills

6th June 2022 By: Mariaan Webb - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Australian bullion miner Red 5 on Sunday completed the first gold pour at King of the Hill project, in Western Australia.

The first smelt delivered two gold dore bars, weighing 1 588 oz, following the recent commissioning of the gravity and elution circuits.

The gyratory crushing circuit has been running on a combination of oxide and fresh material for more than 40 days and has achieved throughput rates above 1 600 t/h. The grinding circuit and wet plant continue to ramp up, with the SAG mill now achieving throughput rates of more than 600 t/h at moderate mill load and power draw.

“We can all be proud of this achievement. It marks the beginning of a new era for Red 5, with the new 4.7-million-tonne-a-year King of the Hills processing plant set to become a highly efficient production hub,” comments MD Mark Williams.

In the coming weeks, the King of the Hills processing plant will achieve full capacity at more than 800 000 t, or about two months of feedstock on the ROM pad.