Classic Minerals looks set to deliver early cashflows from the Kat Gap gold discovery near Southern Cross in Western Australia. The company has flagged the early delivery of its modular, Gekko gravity processing plant which is now slated to be on the ground in Perth in second half of August 2020. The modular gold plant looks set to deliver Classic a clever short-cut through the development process and a rapid pathway to early cashflows.
The Gekko plant is a gravity recovery plant that essentially recovers gold by way of gravity rather than the more traditional and larger chemical-based processing route.
At Kat Gap, Classic is blessed with the type of ore that can easily be recovered via gravity and this may well set the company up for the future if it can get it right.
The company made the high-grade gold discovery at Kat Gap in late 2018 with the find quickly progressing to become the company’s headline project. Kat Gap lies 180km southeast of the mining centre of Southern Cross in Western Australia’s wheatbelt, 370km east of Perth.
From the outset, Kat Gap as delivered shallow high-grade gold in its drill holes with early results including 2 metres at 116.1 g/t gold whilst recent RC drilling has continued to return some outstanding intercepts including 4 metres at 76.72 g/t incorporating 1 metre at a magnificent 304 g/t gold. The calibre of these results has long hinted at the free-milling nature of the gold mineralisation at Kat Gap with the company now set to capitalise on the character of this lucrative ore.
Metallurgical test work on the Kat Gap ores has shown them to be highly amenable to simple gravity separation recovering up to 75 percent of the contained gold via this cost-effective method – recoveries jump to an impressive 95 per cent when coupled with cyanide leaching. The high recoveries in the gravity circuit represent a unique opportunity for Classic, which is where the Gekko “Python” system comes into the picture.
The Australian-made Gekko Python processing system is a portable, modular design that is scalable, depending on the size and nature of the target mineralisation. The portable processing circuit can be essentially parked next to the mining operation to deliver a rapid, cheap processing and production solution.
Management said the Gekko gravity unit is ideally suited to the free-milling Kat Gap gold ores offering a unique screening and concentration circuit that provides for optimum recovery into a high-value gold concentrate for downstream treatment and delivery as bullion. The plant as purchased, will be set up to process 30 tonnes per hour but is scalable up to a massive 250 tonnes per hour of throughput.
Classic is set to take delivery of the two-stage gravity concentrator unit in late August 2020, with commissioning to follow soon after. The company is already pursuing the appropriate mining approvals for Kat Gap and aims to be in production later this year.
Kat Gap already boasts a shallow, high-grade gold resource of 92,856 ounces however, if ongoing exploration is any indication, it is hard to see how the project will finish at that number.
With the drill continuing to tear up the Kat Gap terrain and a plant on the way, Classic now looks set to charge up its cashflow and join the esteemed ranks of WA’s gold producers.
Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
