K92 mine starts production

Business

THE K92 mine in Eastern Highlands has started gold production from the Irumafimpa deposit.
This follows the successful treatment of the first batch of underground ore delivered from Irumafimpa, with concentrate produced.
The mine expects the delivery of concentrate shipment to start in November. Gold production at Irumafimpa will ramp up to steady state operations, reaching an annualised production rate of 52,000 Au per annum in coming months.
Chief executive officer Ian Stalker said the start of gold production was highly significant for the mine and Papua New Guinea.
Stalker thanked the team on site for achieving production ahead of schedule and on budget.
He said the rehabilitation of the Irumafimpa gold mine, processing plant and associated infrastructure began in March.
“As an enhancement of the processing facility, we are also pleased to note that the installation of a new Drum Scrubber is also nearing completion. Commissioning will be completed by the end of the month,” Stalker said.
“Over the past months, the mine has enhanced the existing underground mobile plant fleet including receiving onsite delivery of trucks, LHDs, jumbo and stope drills.
“With mining at Irumafimpa and processing now started, we are now well positioned to evaluate and advance production expansion opportunities that exist within our Mining Lease ML150 including potential at the Kora Gold Deposit.”
K92 bought the Kainantu Gold Project from Barrick Gold Corp in 2015. The Kainantu property covers a total area of approximately 410km2.