Crater Gold Mines Second Adit to boost gold production

CRATER Gold Mining Limited has announced that plans are in place to commence the Second Adit at the High Grade Zone Project at Crater Mountain, Papua New Guinea. The firm, in its report to the Australian Stock Exchange, said the area between 1930 level and 1960 level has not been exploited at all by artisanal miners, unlike the area between 1960 level and surface where artisanal workings are frequently encountered. Thus, the firm said the addition of the Second Adit will result in higher gold production as both the 1930 and 1960 levels will be producing in tandem. The adit will access the depth continuity of the central block of the high grade zone, this will provide more working faces in addition to those being mined above the 1960 level and will result in greater flexibility and higher production. Gold mining production is ongoing at the HGZ and so far has been focused on stopping the near vertical structures within the central high grade block of the HGZ project. The Australian miner said as of early August 2016 a further $149,000 has been received by the company from recent gold sales. The company said it is expecting that gold production will further increase as stoping is now also undertaken on the flat dipping structures as well as the near vertical structures within the central high grade block of the HGZ mine. Currently only one mill is in production, however minor changes to the milling circuit are planned, involving the installation of a vibrating screen and placement of mills in series rather than in parallel. This will result in a considerable increase in throughput and less wear of hammers and discharge screens. The company’s focus remains on ramping up production to full capacity. Crater Gold’s managing director Russ Parker said:  “We are constantly looking at every avenue to increase production, hence the need for the second adit and the plan to modify the processing plant whilst also working on containment of costs. z“We are currently investigating the feasibility of upgrading a gazetted track to a level which might support 4WD access and as such would result in less reliance on expensive air freight by fixed wing and helicopter.” Mr Parker said the company will be issuing a mixing zone project update in the near future.