AUSTRALIA’s Red Back Mining is to go ahead with the development of its million-ounce Chirano Gold Project in Ghana.

“The company has been granted a mining lease for the project which includes portions of the Tano Suraw and Tano Suraw extension productive forest reserves,” says MD Ross Ashton.

The Chirano Gold Project has measured, indicated and inferred resources of 30,4-million tons grading 2,1g/t for 2,05-million ounces.

At a gold price of $325/oz and based on pit optimisation and detailed pit designs the measured and indicated resources have been converted to proved and probable reserves of 16,08-million tons grading 2,1g/t for 1,06-million in situ ounces.

At higher gold prices, additional resource ounces are available for conversion into reserves.

About 80% of the resources and reserves lie within the Tano Suraw and Tano Suraw extension productive forest reserves.

The bankable feasibility study for Chirano is awaiting completion of supplemental openpit design and pit scheduling studies which were commissioned to analyse the impact of the higher gold price on the project.

These studies are expected to be completed this quarter.

The Chirano Gold Project is expected to produce 120 000 oz to 130 000 oz of gold a year over a mine life of eight years from a two-million-ton-a-year conventional carbon-in-leach treatment plant.

The main components of the plant are a single-stage primary crusher, a semi-autogenous mill; a ball mill; a gravity gold circuit; a leach feed thickener; a carbon-in-leach circuit and an elution gold-stripping circuit.
Capital costs are expected to be about $40-million to $50-million.