Central Rand Receiving Ore From Partner, Looks To Up Plant Capacity

LONDON (Alliance News) - Central Rand Gold Ltd on Friday said the agreement that will give it access to another company's gold-bearing ore has been finalised and deliveries have started as the miner looks for further joint venture opportunities.

The agreement will see a third-party supply gold-bearing ore to Central Rand's operation in South Africa and numerous deliveries have been made so far, with the ore being stockpiled at the metallurgical plant.

Central Rand plans to start processing the ore late this month but is currently conducting metallurgical testing to ensure optimum recoveries of gold are achieved from the material.

Central Rand ceased open-pit mining back in June so that it could focus on rehabilitating the underground mine after a flood over 18 months ago made the area inaccessible. This had forced Central Rand to find alternative ore near surface and at the open pit to keep production going.

When the agreement was originally made, the third party was to supply a minimum of 18,000 tonnes of ore per month to Central Rand, which, for perspective, can be compared to the 20,000 tonne capacity of the plant that is processing the ore.

However, with the plant running at the top end of capacity, Central Rand is currently looking to increase the size of the plant so it can sign similar agreements to source more ore to process.

"In this regard, the company is working closely with Zhejiang Golden Machinery Plant to conduct various testwork and due diligence workstreams regarding the joint venture opportunities and the potential expansion of the existing metallurgical plant. The company expects to be in a position to update shareholders regarding the joint venture opportunities in the near future," said Central Rand.

Central Rand shares were up 6.3% to 1.62 pence per share on Friday morning.

By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance

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