PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold developer Red 5 has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract and the bulk earthworks for the process plant at its King of the Hills project, in Western Australia, to mineral processing provider MACA.
The two contracts which encompass the processing facility, equipping of the bore fields, high voltage power distribution, workshop, warehouse and bulk earthworks, will be undertaken as a fixed price contract.
Red 5 told shareholders on Monday that following the execution of the EPC contract, commitments to date for the King of the Hills project had reached a total of A$143-million, compared with the budgeted A$155-million, representing 82% of the total expected capital spend of A$188-million.
“Our decision to award these key contracts and make commitments to significant long lead items prior to completing project debt funding reflects our confidence in the robustness of the King of the Hills project,” said MD Mark Williams.
“Importantly, the commitments made to date are below budget for this stage of the King of the Hills project, and should give our stakeholders confidence that we are well on track to progress the development of this major project, with production planned to start in the June quarter of 2022.”
The initial mine plan for King of the Hills estimated a mine life of 16 years, with gold production in years one to six expected to average 176 000 oz/y, while peak annual gold production of 203 000 oz/y will be achieved in 2024, benefitting from underground mining of one-million tonnes a year in years one to four.