Kin buys ball mill for Leonora

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold developer Kin Mining has acquired a 2.5 MW ball mill for less than A$1-million for its Leonora gold project, in Western Australia, boosting up-front mill throughput at the project.

Kin on Tuesday said that the installation of a 2.5 MW ball mill would provide single-stage primary grinding of the Cardinia ores, at a throughput rate of 1.2-million tonnes a year.

As the project transitions to mining of the harder primary ores, mill throughput will be maintained with the inclusion of the recently acquired Lawlers 600 kW ball mill.

In addition to the essential drive train components, the mill, which was purchased from Macca-Interquip for A$900 000, comes with spare motor, gearbox and pinion, along with engineering details that would reduce installation costs.

“This larger ball mill is a key long-lead and expensive item for any project. We have secured this critical piece of equipment in very good condition along with critical spares. Importantly, we have provided certainty of grinding power to the operation and increased initial mill throughput,” said Kin MD Don Harper.

An equivalent new 2.5 MW ball mill would cost an estimated A$4.5-million with spares, and could take up to 40 weeks to deliver. The mill from Macca-Interquip is expected for delivery within 12 weeks, and would be fully refurbished in that time.

"The purchase of the 800 000 t/y Lawlers plant and the opportunity to secure the used 2.5 MW ball mill allows Kin the ability to achieve our construction schedule of approximately nine months from project funding. We also now expect to see a reduction in life-of-mine capital costs in comparison to the 2016 prefeasibility study,” Harper said.

The Leonora mine will have an initial life of 6.5 years, producing 43 000 oz in year one and ramping up to 52 000 oz in year three. The preproduction capital cost is estimated at A$35-million.