THE incorporation of Pan African Resources’ Evander Tailings Retreatment Plant (ETRP) into its recently commissioned Elikhulu plant would be completed by December taking combined gold output from the complex to 70,000 ounces annually, said CEO, Cobus Loots.
Loots was commenting at the inaugural gold pour of Elikhulu, a gold tailings re-treatment plant near its Evander premises in Mpumalanga province. The project was completed within its R1.74bn budget and was expected to process 55,000 oz of gold a year at an all-in sustaining production cost of between $650/oz and $700/oz.
The plant will be dovetailed with the ETRP following a decision to shut underground sections of Evander Gold Mines creating more capacity in its process plant. The enlarged Elikhulu plant is forecast to process throughput of 1.2 million tonnes per month.
“We expect Elikhulu to be a flagship operation within our low-cost, long-life asset base, and we will continue to focus on improving and expanding our portfolio in a sustainable manner to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Loots.
Over the life of the Project, Elikhulu is expected to produce 674,000 oz of gold with a value of approximately R11.5bn assuming a local gold price of R550,000/kg.
