Evolution Mining has announced its board has approved plans to invest in the E42 Stage H cutback and the Dual Leach Project at Cowal gold mine in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.
The life of Evolution’s Cowal gold mine has now been secured for at least the next 15 years , allowing Evolution to continue its transformation of this cornerstone asset.
Evolution executive chairman Jake Klein said: “Securing the mine-life of this high-quality cornerstone asset for at least 15 years provides a strong platform to continue to grow our business.
“Cowal has generated a net mine cash-flow of A$253m representing 36% of the A$703m purchase price, in the six quarters since Evolution acquired it in July 2015. Over that period Ore Reserves have also increased by 2.28 million gold ounces or 145%.
“We were delighted with the results of the E42 Stage H drill programme and are excited by the opportunities that are available to us to continue to optimise this long-life, low-cost asset.”
This month, NSW regulatory authorities approved the extension of Cowal operations to 2032.
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By GlobalDataThe approval increased the life of mine by eight years that will boost planned gold production by 1.2 million ounces.
Capital investment in stripping is expected to be nearly A$230m ($177m) over four years starting next financial year. The Dual Leach project includes the implementation of additional leaching circuit that will recover gold from the flotation tailings stream.
Extensive metallurgical test work confirmed that overall plant gold recovery can improve by 4%-6% that would increase gold production by 10,000oz-14,000oz a year.
The company will invest around A$35-A$40m ($27m-$30.77m) in FY18 and FY19 in this project, which is expected to be commissioned in early FY19.
In December last year, Evolution conducted Cowal Ore Reserve estimate that indicated 116.71 million tonnes at 0.85g/t Au for 3.20 million ounces gold, a 12% increase on the 2015 estimate.
Including ore reserves, the Cowal Mineral Resource is estimated to be 177.65 million tonnes at 0.88g/t Au for 5.04 million ounces gold.