Bellevue Gold has announced that its Bellevue Gold Project in Western Australia has poured its first gold bar in the first smelt, weighing in at 8.3kg.
The following operational parameters are being achieved at the project:
- The crushing circuit has been operating at 250t per hour at times during the first six days since start-up of operations
- The ball mill has achieved a throughput of 125tph (1Mtpa) on an ad-hoc basis during the start-up period, which achieves the design rate
- Ramp-up and optimisation activities continue across crushing, processing and plant services areas
The start of production and cash flow has been achieved on time and on budget. A significant stockpile is on hand comprising approximately 115,000t of underground ore ready for processing as part of the commissioning phase. An additional 85,000t of open pit material is also available for processing that is currently not in the early-stage processing plan.
The project is now in the commissioning phase, with plant throughput forecast to ramp up to consistent production at the nameplate processing capacity of 1Mtpa.
Bellevue Managing Director, Darren Stralow, said that the start of production is the culmination of an incredible journey which started with an exploration project.
“To achieve this on time and on budget is a huge feat, particularly given the skills shortage and economic climate of recent times,” Mr Stralow said.
“This is a major credit to our construction and operations teams who, alongside our key contractors, have worked tirelessly to deliver this project.”
Featured image: The Bellevue Gold Project’s first gold bar. Image credit: Bellevue Gold.
