K92 to invest K855mil

THE K92 Mining Inc plans to invest US$250 million (K855.55mil) in capital over the next three years to reach a production level of more than 300,000 ounces per annum, chief executive officer John Lewins says.
He told The National that the company would continue to provide positive outcomes for all its stakeholders including surrounding communities.
“We are excited about the coming year as it will be a major transformative year for our company,” he said.
“We believe we will provide many positive outcomes for all of our stakeholders, including our communities.
“We are forecasting a new record production for the year, committing to a major expansion which will see K92 Mining spend US$250 million (K855.55mil) in capital over the next three years and move to a production of over 300,000 ounces per annum.”
He said the number of people employed in the operation would continue to increase to more than 1,000 in early 2021 and more than 1,500 by the end of 2022.
The mine currently employs 730 employees including 130 casuals and 200 contractors.
Lewins said the mine completed this year an expansion of the mine production capacity to double throughput from 200,000 tonnes per annum to 400,000 tonnes per annum.
“As a result, production this year will increase from 82,000 ozs gold in 2019 to 100,000 ozs gold in 2020 and 140,000 ozs gold in 2021,” he said.
“We have had significant exploration success in 2020 and will be spending even more on exploration in 2021 – over K30 million to build on that success.”
In July, parties to the mine’s existing memorandum of agreement (MoA) met in Kokopo, East New Britain, to review the MoA.