Kaiser Reef Ltd (ASX:KAU) has increased production, with monthly ore mining rates targeting 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes per month at its A1 Gold mine and Maldon Processing Facility in Eastern Victoria.
The uplift in production is backed by the company’s ‘significant’ de-bottleneck and infrastructure improvements at the mine and in the processing facility, which include:
- a high voltage (HV) power upgrade;
- further underground remote mining fleet purchases;
- improved ventilation infrastructure (ongoing) and access to ore bodies; and
- upgradation of the PLC and SCADA systems.
Mill upgrade
At the start of 2022, the Maldon processing team kicked off a major project to modernise the SAG milling operation to ensure the plant could be operated and maintained more effectively.
The project was executed in four main stages, the first being the redesign and replacement of the SAG discharge hopper and pump in May 2022.
The second stage was the redesign of the SAG Mill lining system, improving the wear life of the liners, increasing the grinding efficiency of the mill and significantly reducing gold hold-up between and behind the liners.
The third stage of the project involved a significant electrical engineering project to replace the obsolete PLCs (programmable logic controllers), that were originally installed in the mid-1980s.
The final stage of the project was the replacement of the 1980s technology hydro cyclones.
Overall, these improvements have delivered significant value to the Kaiser Operations business as well as improved safety.
Semi-automated plant
Following the PLC and SCADA systems upgrade, the processing plant is now semi-automated and has recently achieved reported production rates exceeding 200,000 tonnes per annum of hard rock ore.
Recoveries have been consistently above 96% and the mill is now more stable and operates with reduced unit costs due to the efficiency improvements.