Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY and FSE: D7Q1) (“Monument” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that commercial production has been achieved at the Selinsing Gold Mine in Malaysia that has operated 30 days consecutive production of gold concentrate at 90% of designed capacity.
Cathy Zhai, President and CEO of Monument Mining commented: “We are very pleased to announce this landmark event at the Selinsing gold mine. After 12 years gold bullion production that generated positive cash flow, now the Gold Sulphide Project will continue the legacy, based on such we move forward to the Murchison Gold Project and the corporate development as well. We thank the Monument Mining team and contractor partners for their dedication and hard work to achieve this commercial production milestone.”
The throughput of the sulphide gold treatment plant achieved 90% of design capacity for the 30-day period up to August 16, 2023, thereby achieving the requirement for commercial production. Mill availability during this period was 94% and flotation mass pull was acceptable at 3.4% vs design of 3.5%. As a result concentrate production was at 79 tonnes per day in line with the designed protocol, considered satisfactory given the variability of the transition ore processed.
Flotation gold recovery was somewhat inconsistent due to the high clay content of freshly mined transition ore and the processing of stockpiled transition ore mixed with oxides that gave very poor flotation response. Daily recoveries in excess of 80% were recorded but overall gold recovery of 61.4% was reported for the 30-day period up to August 16, 2023. Optimization of the flotation reagent suite continued with particular attention to the addition of soda ash for pH control, potassium amyl xanthate as flotation collector and sodium hexametaphosphate as slimes depressant. Issues experienced with the flotation air blowers were resolved after troubleshooting by Atlas Copco technicians.
Frequent failure of the pressure filter cloths continues to be an issue. New higher permeability filter cloths have been sourced from local and international vendors as well as from the filter press supplier McLanahan in the US. The lead time for filter cloth orders is not acceptable for a six-month period. The Company has communicated with the supplier to resolve this issue while alternative suppliers are selected. Replacement filter plates have also been ordered from McLanahan to replace those that have worn prematurely, and Regular cleaning of filter cloths and plates improved the overall efficiency of the filter press operation.
Construction of the concentrate shed was completed.
To date the flotation plant has produced over 9,100 dry metric tonnes (“DMT”) of gold concentrate at an average grade of 37.5 g/t Au.
Offtake agreements have been signed with selected buyers and a total of 6,550 DMT of concentrate shipment are currently in progress. The Company has obtained export permits for all selected buyers, renewable every six months. The sales and logistics teams are organized, trained and the documentation and control process including security system has also been developed.
