Red River Resources Limited has officially commenced processing at its Hillgrove Gold Operation in New South Wales, located approximately 30 kilometres from Armidale.
The project has a substantial high-grade JORC 2012 Compliant Mineral Resource of 5 million tonnes (Mt) at 4.3 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold (Au) and 1.5 per cent antimony (Sb) (6.4 g/t Au Eq.) (692koz gold and 75kt antimony).
Bakers Creek Stockpile mining and trucking activities have commenced, with first ore delivered to Hillgrove ROM Pad on 23 December 2020.
First ore was processed through the Hillgrove Mill on 29 December, and the company announced the 250,000 tonne per annum capacity processing plant is ramping up to steady state production.
The plant comprises a selective flotation circuit (capable of producing antimony-gold and refractory gold concentrates), an antimony leach/EW/refining and casting plant, a gold cyanide leach circuit and gold room plus a pressure oxidation circuit.
The site also has a fully high-density polyethylene lined modern tailing storage facility, which was constructed in 2006 and has approximately two years of production storage capacity.
About the Hillgrove Gold Operation
To date, Hillgrove has produced more than 730,000 ounces of gold (in bullion and concentrates), more than 50,000 tonnes of antimony (as metal and in concentrates) plus material amounts of by-product tungsten (in concentrates).
All of Hillgrove’s electricity requirements are sourced from a 66kva grid-connected power supply from Ergon Energy with 11kva site power reticulation.
Water is sourced from storage dams and underground workings.
Hillgrove has all the office facilities required for operations, including an administration office, mining operations offices, maintenance offices, workshops (heavy vehicle, light vehicle and boilermaker’s workshops), process plant offices, metallurgical laboratory building, first aid building, stores warehouse and core shed and yard.
The Hillgrove Gold Operation is a residential site, with the majority of the workforce residing in Armidale and the surrounding area.
