Construction of the heap leach pad system is targeted to be completed and operational by December 2021
Baru Gold commences Sangihe gold mine construction. (Credit: Baru Gold Corp.)
Baru Gold Corp (“Baru” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has commenced construction of phase one of the Sangihe gold project.
Construction will consist of clearing land, building two 100,000 tonnes heap leach pads, pit overburden removal, preparation of waste dumps, a crushing facility, and a processing plant area including access roads.
Baru COO Garry Kielenstyn and the Indonesian team are currently on site to supervise the engineering and contractor management, oversee site activities and keep costs in line and within budget. Construction of the heap leach pad system is targeted to be completed and operational by December 2021, with first production gold pour in Q1 2022.
The Company, along with its contractors, are currently preparing the principal production area, grubbing, and establishing pit limits to the plan. The focus will be on digging out the pregnant solution pond, constructing pond berms, and compacting to engineering specifications in preparation for installation of the leach pad liner and the processing facility.
Heap leaching is an industrial mineral processing method used to extract precious metals and other compounds from ore using a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and re-separate them after their division from other earth materials. Heap leaching is the most economical and environmentally efficient method of processing lower grade mined ore. Heap leaching achieves these processing efficiencies by placing finely crushed ore on a liner, then adding reagents via drip systems to the ore. As compared to conventional processing methods such as flotation, agitation, or vat leaching, heap leaching is widely used in modern large-scale mining operations to produce the desired concentrates at a lower cost for lower grade ores.
Terry Filbert, President, CEO and Director of Baru, commented, “The successful start of construction of the pit, pads, and pond facilities is a tremendous milestone for our Sangihe project. Once operations are running smoothly and Sangihe starts generating reliable cashflow we will invest that cashflow to expand the resource through an extended exploration and drilling program. This will allow us to expand production and the mine’s life. We will provide further updates on the heap leach operations in the weeks to come.”
Source: Company Press Release