Modern Mining November 2015

MINING News

New Liberty back on track after crusher outage

Aureus Mining Inc, the TSX- and AIM-listed West African gold producer, reports that gold producing operations at the New Liberty Gold Mine (NLGM) have restarted following the repair of the secondary crusher. The crusher suffered a mechanical failure in October, leading to a temporary suspension of processing activities. Ore crushing operations recommenced on 28 October 2015, following the installa­ tion of a temporary mobile crushing unit. The mobile crusher, which was sourced in-country, has a capacity of 200 t/h and is sufficient to supply the New Liberty ball mill, which runs at a designed feed rate of 146 tonnes of run of mine (ROM) ore per hour. This mobile crusher will be retained on site for a period of six months to provide additional operational flexibility during the final testing and commissioning phase of the plant, and also to provide additional crushed rock material for use on haul roads and other associated infrastructure. Specialists fromDRA, the EPCM contrac­ tor, and technicians from the OEM of the secondary crusher successfully completed repairs to remediate the mechanical failure within the secondary crusher. These repairs were completed on 29 October 2015, fol­ lowing which the secondary crusher was tested extensively to ensure all parame­ ters were operating correctly before being recommissioned and ramped back up to its full capacity. During the temporary 19-day stoppage of crushing and processing operations, mining operations continued. Run of mine (ROM) stockpiles currently total 55 283 tonnes at 3,16 g/t and oxide stockpiles total 105 203 tonnes at 2,04 g/t.

The New Liberty Gold Mine in Liberia, which was officially opened in August this year (photo: Aureus Mining).

Commercial productionwill be declared on the first day of the calendar month fol­ lowing the mill having operated at an average of 60 % or more of the designed production capacity, calculated over a 60-day period. Commenting on the restart of process­ ing operations, David Reading, President and CEO of Aureus Mining, said: “I am pleased to announce that gold process­

best for the future. I will again take direct responsibility for the operations given that our number one priority is achieving the planned improvement in performance in the fourth quarter,” comments Gordon. “In this respect, October was fully in line with plan, across all three sites, and we remain on track for the full year. We plan to reassess the situ­ ation as regards any potential replacement COO early in 2016.”  ing operations have recommenced at the New Liberty Gold Mine and we are now looking forward to declaring commercial production in January 2016. The quick remediation of the secondary crusher fail­ ure is testament to the hard work of our employees and the specialist engineers and technicians from DRA and the OEM, who have worked tirelessly to restart pro­ duction as quickly as possible.” 

Acacia’s Chief Operating Officer leaves the company Acacia has announced that its Chief Operating Officer, Michelle Ash, will be leaving the company with immediate effect, with Brad Gordon, CEO, resuming direct responsibility for the operations. Acacia is the biggest gold miner in Tanzania and owns and operates the Bulyanhulu, North Mara and Buzwagi mines. “I would like to express my thanks to Michelle for her contribution to Acacia over the past two years and wish her all the

November 2015  MODERN MINING  7