Gekko Plant Outperforms Expectations
Perth, Sep 29, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Classic Minerals Limited (
ASX:CLZ) is pleased to announce that it has validated the decision taken to invest in the Gekko range of equipment for processing Kat Gap gold ore. The test work completed by Nagrom in the laboratory1 has now been confirmed with the Gekko Inline Pressure Jig and Gekko Spinner delivering more than 95% of the liberated gold through a simple gravity process at a crush size of less than 2mm. The Gekko equipment also supported the decision that a low-cost plant will be able to deliver outstanding results. The plant configuration assists Classic in having a greener, chemical free footprint as there is no chemical involvement and the power usage is also very low compared to traditional gold processing plants.
The Gekko Jig used, in the pilot plant setup, was an IPJ 1000 capable of processing a throughput of up to 30 tons per hour. Classic also has a Gekko IPJ 2400 which has a nameplate capacity of up to 100 tons per hour.
The Pilot is capable of processing 10 tonnes of feed per hour, however, was run at 1-2 tph during the pilot in order to focus on understanding and optimising process dynamics rather than throughput rate.
The Pilot is upgradeable to 100tph utilising the equipment which is already owned by Classic.
The full flowsheet is:
- Gekko Jig concentrates to a Gekko centrifugal concentrator
- Jig tailings to two centrifugal gold concentrators (ICON) in series
- Concentrate clean-up for smelting
- Tailings collected for reprocessing when CIL plant established (cyanide alternatives are currently being assessed to continue the philosophy of a greener gold plant - if technically and commercially appropriate).
Preliminary results
The results were as expected, with the gravity flowsheet recovering the majority of the liberated gold except for a small amount of ultrafine gold, which flowed to tailings.
- The Pilot flowsheet is appropriate for the mineralisation type at Kat Gap.
- Jig tails contained negligible free gold
- The majority of the gold (from coarse to ultrafine) was recovered in the jig/Spinner combination
- The 'scavenger' centrifugal concentrators captured predominantly fine gold that the spinner had not recovered.
- The concentrate produced contains gold ranging from ultrafine (floating) to 2mm in size.
- Classic are currently awaiting assays to reconcile the gold grade and recovery.
Commercial Implications
Once fully commissioned onsite, the Gekko plant is expected to produce gold in line with the previous testwork i.e., at a recovery of up to 70% of the gold in the feed.
Chairman John Lester said "That today we have had our decision to purchase the Gekko plant and equipment for Kat Gap ore vindicated with the test results for the pilot plant. I am now confident that the next stage of commissioning the full plant, will provide the results, for Classic, that we have been looking for. Upon the approval for the Tailings Storage Facility we will commence the plant assembly and commissioning and proceed to processing Kat Gap ore and producing gold. We already have the additional Gekko components that will permit a processing capacity in excess of 100 tons per hour at Kat Gap."
*To view photographs, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/IF33LHAC
About Classic Minerals Limited
Classic Minerals Limited (ASX:CLZ) is an exploration and development company focused on gold deposits in Western Australia's famous Goldfields region. In March 2017, Classic acquired the Forrestania Gold Project, with seven tenements stretching across 450km2. Strategically located in a very prospective region, the FGP is an underexplored package surrounded by multimillion ounce deposits such as Bounty (2Moz) and Yilgarn Star (1.5Moz).
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