MDL Plant Crushing Sabodala Ore!
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — (Marketwire) — 01/28/09 — Mineral Deposites Limited (TSX: MDM)(ASX: MDL) –
The construction of the new two million tonne per annum carbon-in-leach (CIL) treatment plant at Sabodala in Senegal, west Africa is complete.
MDL is pleased to announce that the primary crushing circuit commenced crushing of ore on Tuesday, 27 January 2009 as the first stage of production ramp-up. At present, there is in excess of 600,000 tonnes of predominantly oxide ore containing over 45,000 ounces of gold on the run-of-mine (ROM) pad directly adjacent to the main crushing circuit.
Commissioning of plant equipment is well advanced and on schedule for the first gold pour planned for March.
In addition to the above, water systems are 80% commissioned through the plant and the low pressure air system is complete. The SAG and ball mill interlock testing is 100% complete. All nine CIL tank agitators have been run successfully and CIL tanks are being hydraulically tested, prior to leach commissioning.
The power station is providing commissioning power. Within the 30MW power station, there are six engines of which each unit has an operational rating of 5MW. To date, four of the 5MW units have been commissioned. The final unit is likely to be available within a week. A sixth unit is a spare.
Under normal conditions, Sabodala will require three operating units to provide sufficient power to operate at the nominal throughput of two million tonnes per annum. The plant has been designed to allow for significant capacity increases if required.
To view the “Plant showing SAG and ball mills” photo, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mdlphoto1.pdf.
To view the “Power Station – 30MW” photo, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mdlphoto2.pdf.
To view the “Crushing circuit with conveyor belt stacker” photo, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mdlphoto3.pdf.
ABN 19 064 377 420
Contacts:
Mineral Deposites Limited
Jeff Williams
(03) 9909 7633
(03) 9621 1460 (FAX)
Email: jeff.williams@mineraldeposits.com.au
Website: www.mineraldeposits.com.au
