THE Australian mining company Troy Resources Inc. has reported that it intends to cast its first gold bars from its Karouni Gold Project in Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) during the first half of next month.The company announced that it has completed commissioning of the processing plant at the Karouni gold project, where construction commenced in February this year, including construction of its mill.
The mill was the last major component to be put through a process of dry and wet commissioning, and was put on an extended performance test under full-load conditions.
Operating at a steady state, all pressure and temperature readings were recorded within specified limits. The company has said the mill is now being fed with a limited amount of ore, to enable pressure and flow-rate adjustment to all systems.
The last part of the elution circuit (the smelting system) is programmed and ready to be run in the next day or so. Once this happens, the entire elution circuit will be signed off by the chief design engineer.
After the final adjustments have been made to the mill and processing circuits, ore feed will be steadily increased towards the plant’s nominal design capacity of approximately 80,000 tonnes per month. This level of throughput is expected to be achieved in early 2016.
Company Managing Director Mr Martin Purvis commented: “Conclusion of commissioning activities represents a significant milestone in the fast-track development of Karouni, and I congratulate all the employees and contractors who have worked together safely and tirelessly to achieve this outcome within very challenging physical conditions.
“If the ramp-up in production continues as expected, the first gold pour is now expected to occur in the first half of November. This is another exciting step forward for Troy’s new flagship operation, following on from the start of exploration activities at Karouni in late September,” Purvis said.
