PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The capital cost of the Gruyere gold joint venture (JV), in Western Australia, has increased from A$507-million to A$532-million, following an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) review by the JV partners.
ASX-listed Gold Road Resources on Wednesday told shareholders that since the JV was formed with South Africa’s Gold Fields, the partners have been working on a detailed review of the feasibility study, which has resulted in a number of improvements and enhancements to the project.
“We are very pleased with the continued improvements to the project, and that after careful scrutiny, the capital cost estimate has been restrained within the feasibility study cost estimate error range,” said Gold Road MD and CEO Ian Murray.
The JV partners recently awarded a A$298-million EPC contract for the gold project, and have signed an A$585-million power supply contract with APA Group that will see APA design, build, own and operate a 198 km pipeline and a 45 MW gas-fired power station to support the gold project.
Contracts have also been awarded for long-lead items, such as the primary crusher, and semiautogenous grinding and ball mills.
The Gruyere plant will have a capacity to handle 7.5-million tonnes a year of fresh ore, and up to 8.8-million tonnes a year of oxide ore, over a mine life of 13 years.
Construction completion has been tipped for December next year, with first gold expected in the first quarter of 2019.