Gold producer Robex Resources on Thursday reported that it had achieved commercial production at its Kiniero gold project, in Guinea.
Commercial production status was achieved following the first shipment of gold this week. The shipment comprised about 197 kg of gold, equivalent to 6 336 oz.
Under the Guinea Mining Code, the date of first commercial production is defined as the earlier of either the completion of a sustained period of production above a prescribed threshold or the date of the first shipment for commercial purposes. Robex confirmed that the shipment constitutes the date of first commercial production for Kiniero under the code.
The ASX- and TSX-V-listed company also confirmed that all relevant commercial production requirements under its senior secured financing arrangements with Sprott have been satisfied.
As at the end of January, and following the ramp-up of operations, Kiniero had processed about 393 000 dry metric tonnes of ore at an average head grade of about 1.0 g/t Au. Metallurgical gold recovery averaged about 88%, with mill availability of more than 92%.
Gold recovered totalled about 10 900 oz, with about 5 550 oz poured, reflecting what the company described as the normal build-up of gold inventory within the carbon-in-leach circuit during commissioning and early operations.
“With Kiniero now in commercial operation and generating cash flow, the asset is positioned to support the development of Bankan as part of our transformative merger with Predictive Discovery. This milestone reinforces the strategic rationale for the combination and our objective of building a leading multi-asset gold producer,” said MD and CEO Matthew Wilcox.