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In March 2007, construction of the processing plant was completed and commercial gold production was achieved in September 2007.
Jinfeng produced 56,981 ounces of gold during 2007 and 150,928 ounces of gold during 2008.
Ore is currently being mined from the Jinfeng open pit with the mining contractor utilising a modern mining fleet of large haul trucks and excavators. The open pit has a strip ratio of 10.7 to 1, based on the Ore Reserve of 3.2 million ounces as at 31 December 2008.
Operational flexibility will be provided by sourcing ore concurrently from the open pit and the underground mine. The underground mine is planned to start contributing a significant portion of ore processed during the second half of 2009. At full capacity the underground mine is expected to operate on four main levels, with each level providing approximately 250,000 tonnes of ore.
The plant site layout is illustrated in the diagram below.
Jinfeng ore is refractory and processing comprises:
- Ore fed to a semi autogenous and ball mill grinding circuit.
- Flotation circuit recovers a pyrite concentrate containing over 90% of the gold.
- The concentrate is oxidised by bacteria using the patented BIOX technology.
- A carbon-in-leach circuit followed by an electrowinning circuit produces gold dore for shipment to a refinery in China.
Overall gold recoveries are approximately 85%.
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