Commodities, Exploration/Development, Gold, News

Red 5 keeps 2022 production start on schedule

Red 5

Red 5 has hit several construction milestones at the King of the Hills (KOTH) gold project, as the emerging gold miner nears production at the Western Australian site.

The 2.4-million-ounce project remains on schedule, with Red 5 targeting first production by the June quarter of 2022.

All SAG mill components have been delivered to site, with assembly of the mill shell now underway. The CIL tanks have also been fully welded, while six of the eight CIL tank agitators have been assembled.

Red 5 managing director Mark Williams acknowledged the efforts of the company’s workforce to keep construction moving despite the difficult labour shortage, which has plagued the state’s resources sector in 2021.

“Despite the challenging environment for people, equipment and services across the WA mining industry, King of the Hills remains within budget and on schedule, which is a credit to the diligence, hard work and focus of our team,” Williams said.

In July, Red 5 announced the mine may even be extending KOTH’s 16-year mine life with a 19 per cent increase to its underground resource.

The company reported a 130,000-ounce increase to the resource after completing 33,088 metres of underground drilling in 2020, bringing the total mine life to a possible 20.5 years.

Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Bill Johnston visited the site in early September, with Williams giving him the grand tour.

“We were delighted last week to host … Bill Johnston, together with a group of key stakeholders including representatives of the Traditional Owners, our construction partners and leading Australian media to King of the Hills for a tour of the project,” Williams said.

“They were able to see the progress with construction of the process plant as well as the other key items of infrastructure around the site, and also visit the impressive King of the Hills underground mine, which will be back in full swing next year as a key contributor of ore alongside the large open pit to the new +4.7Mtpa processing plant.”

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