Resolute Mining Limited has announced the successful and safe completion of the Syama sulphide plant shutdown
The shutdown commenced on 18 February with the comminution circuits fully recommissioned by 20 March 2022, ahead of schedule. Flotation concentrate has been stockpiled in advance of the Roaster re-start to provide immediate gold concentrate feed. The full restart of the Roaster was delayed by three days to account for revised recommendations from the refractory suppliers resulting in a more conservative refractory installation and curing process. First gold concentrate was fed to the Roaster on 31 March completing the restart of the entire sulphide processing circuit. The performance of the entire sulphide plant is now expected to be more consistent and manageable, as measured by the overall plant availability. Roaster capacity is also expected to increase which will effectively move the sulphide circuit ‘bottleneck’ from the Roaster to the Crusher.
Following a detailed review of the integrity of the Roaster, use of condition monitoring controls and the properties of the newly installed refractory it will be possible to extend the next major shut and refurbishment of the Roaster by up to seven years improving the production profile of the Syama sulphide project and Life-of-Mine fundamentals.
Resolute’s chief operating officer, Terry Holohan commented, “I would like to thank all of our employees and contractors within the projects and maintenance departments, as well as the support teams, who have contributed to the safe and successful completion of this significant $US7.5mn enhancement project. From the early stages of planning, incorporating all the innovative design improvements and challenging logistics through to final delivery, the work performed reflects a highly competent and professional team. The team have successfully met all of our operational requirements while having to deal with a number of external factors, including Covid-19, unseasonal weather and political disruption to deliver a safe and high-quality project for Resolute.”
