Australia's Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines to Shut Down Gidji Roaster by End of 2015

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Limited (KCGM) will shut down its Gidji Roaster ore treatment unit and replace it with an ultra-fine grinding mill by the end of 2015. Gidji Roaster is located about 18 kilometers north of the town of Kalgoorlie and is jointly operated by Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX) (Toronto, Canada) and Newmont Australia Limited, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) (Greenwood Village, Colorado).

KCGM operates the largest open-cut gold mine in Australia, known as Superpit, and processes the ore through its Fimiston gold processing facility and Gidji Roaster. The Gidji facility consists of two separate roasters with a capacity of 268,000 tons per year and a 178 meter-tall stack. The Roaster, which is the iconic landmark of the eastern goldfields, has drawn attention from environmental regulators due to its sulphur dioxide emissions. It was fined $25,000 in 2005 for exceeding Western Australia's legal limit for emissions. Regulatory requirements, low gold prices, increasing costs and community pressure are some of the reasons for the closure of Gidji.

The Gidji Roaster will be replaced by an ultra-fine grinding mill that can grind ore to less than 10 microns. A KCGM project team is in the process of sourcing an approximately 3-megawatt (MW) grinding mill with a minimum capacity of 40 tons per hour. The installation of the grinding mill and auxiliary equipment will be undertaken by mid-2014, with final commissioning targeted for the third quarter of 2015. Upon commissioning of the mill, KCGM will close the roaster.

The open pit mining at the Superpit is scheduled to end in 2019. However, KCGM will continue to process the stockpiles until the end of 2029. KCGM General Manager Russell Cole said there would be no further loss of jobs due to the closure and added: "It is important for the community to understand that while KCGM endeavours to extend the life of the operations, the gold price is variable and economically viable mineral resources are finite, and one day the mine will close."

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