THE Simberi gold project in New Ireland province will use the first-ever rope conveyor in the Southern Hemisphere to transport ore to the processing plant
Allied Gold general manager exploration and development Ross Hasting said the project would be using the rope conveyor to haul ore for Sorowar, which was the largest of the seven deposits, down to the processing plant, which is 3km away.
Made in Austria, the rope conveyor was now being installed at the mine site.
“We’ve gone through all sorts of exercises but we committed to an aerial rope conveyor next year,” Mr Hastings said.
He said Sorowar was the largest deposit containing about 70% of the miner’s gold production and as such, the rope conveyor was set up there with the other deposits being located near the proposed processing plant.
The access roads into the mining area had already been completed while the company had begun stripping one of the deposits in preparation for commissioning next month.
“We start off with the Semat deposits closest to the process plant … then next year, about the start of the second quarter, we would be using the aerial conveyor,” Mr Hastings said.
The Simberi project is the second smallest mining project in the country with resources of only 2.4 million ounces of gold.