New Milestone As Pit 5 Ore Hits Comminution Circuit
Firefinch Limited (ASX: FFX) has commenced commissioning of the comminution circuit at the Morila Gold Mine in Mali using feed from Morila Pit 5 and stockpiles.
This milestone heralds the second stage of the company’s ramp-up strategy, whereby open pit mining of Morila’s satellite pits is forecast to increase production from approximately 50,000 ounces of gold in 2021, to approximately 120,000 ounces in 2022.
Since acquiring the Morila Gold Mine in November 2020, Firefinch has rapidly commenced a programme of work to refurbish key steel structures in the comminution circuit, prepare the crushers, screens and all components of the plant for operation. Preparatory work also included an upgrade of the dump pocket structures, embankment stabilisation and drainage upgrades.
Approximately U$2.5 million dollars has been spent on the refurbishments, with all work having been undertaken by Malian owned and operated contractors, and their local workforces. Importantly, the original equipment manufacturers have undertaken positive technical assessments, utilising their African based presence.
Commissioning of the oxide circuit commenced on 15th May 2021 (Figure 3) predominantly using feed from run of mine stockpiles and the plant has ramped up well, with 20 hours of overall circuit run time by day 3. Ball mill run time was 21.2 hours, and processing was at an annualised rate of 2.4 million tonnes per annum for the 24-hour period. Direct tipping of Morila Pit 5 feed commenced on 19th May 2021.
Managing Director, Dr Mike Anderson, said the oxide circuit will be ramped up to approximately 3 million tonnes per annum in the coming days.
“It was only last week that I expressed our excitement about commencing mining operations at Morila Pit 5,” Dr Anderson said.
“Now the team are commissioning the comminution circuit, and Morila Pit 5 ore will be fed today. What an outcome, and what tremendous momentum we have. Pleasingly the work has again been undertaken safely, by Malian contractors with local workforces, on time and on budget.”
