The ramp-up of Red 5’s King of the Hills (KOTH) Gold Project in Western Australia is proceeding to plan, following the first gold pour last month.
The new 4.7 million tonnes per annum KOTH processing plant is performing in line with expectations, with a total mill operating time in excess of 84 per cent achieved during June 2022.
The SAG mill continues to deliver throughput rates in excess of 600 tonnes per hour at moderate mill loads and power draw.
The open pit and underground mines are also now fully operational, with the first underground stope fired on June 20.
The mill feed has been supplemented with higher-grade ore from Great Western. There are currently more than one million tonnes of ore on the KOTH ROM pad, which is equivalent to over two months of processing feedstock.
The Darlot mine in the Eastern Goldfields also performed well in its final quarter of processing, producing 64,261 ounces for FY22 (production guidance was 62,000—72,000oz).
Red 5 expects Darlot’s full year AISC to be in line with guidance of $2400–$2500 per ounce. Trucking of Darlot underground ore to KOTH will begin in the September Quarter.
Red 5 managing director, Mark Williams, said the company had delivered a solid final quarter of the 2022 financial year, with the key highlight being the delivery of KOTH on time and on budget, and the successful start of commissioning and ramp-up.
“We now have an excellent platform to embark on this next chapter of Red 5’s growth. The successful ramp-up of production at KOTH will put us on an exciting growth trajectory over the coming quarters, and we look forward to keeping the market informed about our progress during FY23,” he said.