Anglogold Begins Final Commissioning of Tropicana Gold Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--The Tropicana gold project in Laverton, Western Australia, has begun its final commissioning stage, with completion and the first gold pour expected by the end of 2013. The project is well-known for its enormous total estimated resources of up to 8 million ounces of gold. It is being developed by Anglogold Ashanti (ASX:AGG) and Independence Group NL (ASX:IGO), through a 70:30 joint venture.

The project is considered a low-cost mine and has been completed within the stipulated budget of an $800 million. It is located about 230 kilometres from the town of Laverton.

The mine includes a gold-processing facility that will be capable of processing an estimated 5.8 million tons of ore to produce about 47,000 ounces of gold per year. The project also involves the construction of a 40-MW power station that was completed in May 2013. The crushing and milling circuit of the processing plant is scheduled to undergo final commissioning in the second and third week of August.

Anglogold selected Lycopodium Minerals (Perth, Australia) to be the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. The other smaller subcontracting companies involved were Pacific Industrial Company, Watpac Civil and Mining, and Southern Cross Electrical. Macmahon Holdings has been awarded the ongoing mining contract.

"We expect the first gold at Tropicana to occur this quarter," said Graham Ehm, the executive vice president of Anglogold. Many of the other gold miners in Australia have put new and expansion projects on hold indefinitely due to a sharp decline in gold prices.

It is assumed that the Tropicana gold mine will become the last gold project to be operational in Western Australia in 2013. The company is committed to growing its operations in Australia and is betting on a recovery in gold prices in 2014.

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