LONDON (Alliance News) - Shanta Gold Ltd Tuesday said that new processing circuits at its New Luika mine in Tanzania have been fully commissioned and have been operating successfully over the past month.
The East Africa-focused gold production and exploration company said the Elution and Electro-Winning circuits have led to a substantial increase in gold recoveries to 87.2% and it expects further benefits in gold and silver recoveries and costs.
The company said that it now expects additional revenue of roughly USD1.5 million, and cost savings of roughly USD8 per ounce, due to the new processing circuit, in the second-half of 2014.
Shanta Gold said that construction of a new crushing circuit on site is also progressing well and it expects the commissioning of this plant to start in late August. It added that cost savings through the removal of rented equipment are expected to be as high as USD20 per ounce.
The company also said it has started a new drilling campaign to extend the life of mine at New Luika with 2,920 metres of drilling expected to be completed in July with an updated resource statement expected to be released in the third quarter.
The drilling is focused on upgrading additional resources from the inferred to indicated categories at its Bauhinia Creek and Luika sites.
Shanta Gold shares were up 1.55 to 13.45 pence on Tuesday.
By Tom McIvor; tommcivor@alliancenews.com; @TomMcIvor1
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