PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Kingsgate Consolidated on Wednesday announced that work to restart operations at its Chatree gold mine, in Thailand, could get underway by December.
Kingsgate was forced to place its Chatree gold miner on care and maintenance at the start of 2017, after the Thai government in 2016 announced that all gold mining in the country would cease.
Since then, the company has been focused on ways to remedy the situation.
Kingsgate told shareholders on Wednesday that the company expected to be in a position to start mobilising for the refurbishment of the mine by December this year, with the activation of the metallurgical processing licence (MPL) and a renewal of the mining leases required for operations, including the Quartz lease, which is needed to fully optimise the A Pit, and has been pending approval since 2011.
Kingsgate told shareholders that it is currently working to optimise the re-start process by assessing a number of options, one of which includes an initial refurbishment of Chatree North to access the current low grade stockpiled ore for processing which has around 6.6 -million tonnes of ore, and contains in the order of 73 000 oz of gold and 780 000 oz of silver.
It is anticipated that this could generate sufficient cash flow to fund various other works including the development of the Quartz lease, the cut back of the A Pit, refurbishment of the first plant, and implementation of an expanded exploration programme focusing on resource to reserve delineation as well as regional grassroots exploration programmes.
Meanwhile, the company is also engaging with the Thai government around a number of issues, including approval assessments, investment incentives, development funding, the development of a local refinery, and the resolution of all outstanding legal issues.