Millennium completes first gold pour at Nullagine
Millennium Minerals (ASX:MOY) has completed its maiden gold pour from the Nullagine gold mine in the East Pilbara District of Western Australia.
The Nullagine gold project is a 1.33 million ounce gold resource contained within seven deposits on granted mining leases.
The largest deposit is Golden Eagle located south of the township of Nullagine and containing 62 per cent of total Mineral Resource inventory.
Nullagine deposit location plan. Source: Company announcement
The first gold bar was poured on 30 September 2012, which the company said was a significant milestone in its transition from development to operations.
“The company’s first gold pour is a very significant achievement marking our transition to Australia’s newest gold producer,” Millennium Minerals chief executive officer Brian Rear said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“I would like to thank our dedicated employees and our contractors who have delivered a functioning mine and production facility in less than 12 months site activity to budget and on time, an exceptional effort.
“I would also thank our shareholders and our financiers for their strong support and providing the company with the financial backing to achieve our objectives.
“We are now focused on maintaining continuous operation of the plant and achieving our planned production objectives from October onwards.”
The gold pour marked the successful completion of the commissioning of the process facilities.
Millennium said the commissioning phase had progressed well since first ore was fed to the SAG mill just over two weeks ago, with no indications as yet of any particular deficiency in design or installation that might materially affect its performance going forward.
The mining operation and the processing plant are now on an operational footing.
The company said it was now focused on settling all elements of the project into a consistent 24 hour operation at nameplate capacity.
The primary crushing facility has been run above design throughput levels, which Millennium said augers well for any future plans to increase production levels.
The SAG mill and CIL circuit are running at design throughput levels.