admin“Gold production from Freda Rebecca for the 12-month period to March 31, 2013 was 65 350 ounces, a 36,8 percent increase to the comparable period last year,” the multi-commodity mining firm said in a statement last week.
The London Alternative Investment Market-listed conglomerate said that a total of 12 510 ounces were sold by Freda Rebecca for the quarter, despite decreased volumes processed due to the leach tank failure in February 2013.
“Disruption (of production) due to the tank failure was minimised and regular production throughput (was) recommenced on April 1, 2013 using an interim tank configuration,” Mwana added.
“This has been another significant period in Mwana Africa’s rapid development. It is a measure of our operating competence that we took the leach tank incident at Freda Rebecca in our stride, acting swiftly and decisively to minimise disruption and ensure that production could be restored as quickly as practicable,” said Mwana Africa Plc chief executive officer Mr Kalaa Mpinga.
Mwana had earlier said that gold production at cash cow Freda Rebecca Mine would be affected in the short term while gold recovery would also suffer in the medium term following the leach tank accident.
The leach tank accident forced Mwana’s local gold mining subsidiary to suspend plant processing operations as the company repaired the damage and put in place measures to restore safety.
This incident, in which five workers were injured, was a major problem for Mwana Africa, considering Freda contributed 98 percent of the group’s US$81,3 million annual revenue for 2012.
Mwana said the pilot plant construction was underway to evaluate the economic potential of Freda Rebecca tailings dumps, with commissioning expected to be completed in the 2013 fourth quarter.
Freda Rebecca has been in production since 1988 and significant tailings have been deposited over three main storage facilities within the mine lease area. A non-compliant indication of the available tonnage contained within the targeted North and South tailings facilities is estimated at 13,5 metric tonnes.
During 2012, a project work was initiated to evaluate the economic potential of these tailings dumps. An internal augering programme was carried out over the old North and South dumps at Freda Rebecca.
Assay results together with basic bottle roll test work gave encouraging results for a full metallurgical phased test programme to identify the most appropriate process route for treating the dump.
Online Reporter