Process Plant10 Dec 2018 12:52
Full BIOX® operations were established early in the quarter, with the circuit displaying flexibility and resilience in operation. However, in response to the restricted ore supplies and the mix of transitional to fresh ores consequential to the mining issues, feed to the circuit has been limited for most of the quarter. In management and to maintain the optimum circuit health, the feed rate has been varied between 50-80% of design to match the weekly forecast availability of the sulphide concentrate produced from the flotation circuit. No power related issues have been experienced during the quarter.
The restricted ore supplies available from the mine, a change in the mix of transitional to fresh ore supplies and the requirement to supplement those supplies with ore stockpiled from earlier in the mine life required a modified operational focus in the processing plant. Currently the plant is being fed at around 65% of design rate with a near equal mix of transitional to fresh ores.
It is forecast that full feeding of dominantly fresh ores will be resumed in December at which time it is expected that on the basis of the current health the BIOX® circuit will re-establish full operations within the month.