Crescent completes ball mill installation

Perth-based gold explorer Crescent Gold Ltd has completed installation and commissioning of the second ball mill at its Laverton Gold mine, the company has announced.

The full text of a company announcement is pasted below

Crescent Gold has completed installation and commissioning of the second ball mill at the Company's wholly-owned Laverton Gold mine, 250 kilometres northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Ore treatment rates of 180 tons per hour are being achieved (equivalent to 1.5mtpa) and plant availability is steadily improving to levels exceeding 90%.

Commissioning of the recently delivered crushing circuit is well advanced, with various components being brought up to Australian Standards.

Improvements to the new tanks are being implemented and further gains in productivity are anticipated as the crusher, gravity circuit and additional tankage are progressively brought on line.

The company has advanced more quickly than anticipated to owner operator of the mill, with the transition completed with no lost time.

The company continues to examine opportunities to reduce costs further and improve overall efficiencies.

Mining through the surface depletion zone at Sickle Phase 2 is almost complete. Sufficient stocks of broken ore are available ahead of the mill reaching full capacity. Mining of higher grade ore is expected to coincide with the commissioning and ramp up of the expanded mill in the coming months.

The final stages of commissioning and expansion of Crescent's Laverton mill will see production ramp up to 90,000 ounces of gold per annum.

Crescent's tenement interests in the Laverton region extend over more than 1,000 square kilometres. The Laverton project hosts an Indicated Resource of 20.1 million tonnes at 1.5 g/t au for 953,000 ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 10.4 million tonnes at 1.4 g/t au totalling 479,000 ounces of gold.

Ore reserves stand at 7.6 million tonnes at 1.6 grams per tonne gold totalling 400,000 ounces of gold. The reserves lie close to several well known multi-million ounce gold sites including Barrick Gold's Wallaby (7.7 moz) and Anglogold Ashanti's Sunrise Dam (7.1 moz) projects.

Drilling at Crescent Gold's Lake Torrens JV (CRE earning 50% with Southern Gold ASX:SAU) has commenced, with the first of five drill holes nearing completion.