Kavango commissions Hillside gold plant

Kavango Resources has successfully commissioned its concept phase 50 t/d gold processing plant at the Hillside gold project in Zimbabwe, with CEO Jasper Musadaidzwa hailing the achievement as a significant step toward commercial-scale operations.

“Accepting statutory commissioning of the processing plant and TSF is a significant milestone for Hillside and an important step towards commercial-scale operations,” said Musadaidzwa.

The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Matabeleland South on October 30 declared both the processing plant and tailings storage facility (TSF) at the Hillside project commissioned.

The project is located in the historic Filabusi Greenstone Belt in Matabeleland South, southern Zimbabwe.

The Southern Africa-focused metals exploration and gold development company developed the Hillside pilot processing plant as a proof-of-concept project to validate its processing flowsheet and confirm expected metallurgical performance.

The operational and metallurgical data generated are expected to inform future development and expansion decisions as Kavango advances Hillside toward larger-scale production.

“The concept phase plant enables us to optimise processing performance, confirm metallurgical recoveries under operating conditions and further refine our understanding of the orebody ahead of larger-scale development.

” With expected gold recoveries of 90 to 93 percent from Hillside, we believe the project has the potential to become a meaningful and scalable gold production centre within our portfolio.”

“Alongside commissioning, we are continuing to upgrade site infrastructure to support future growth and expansion,” said Musadaidzwa

He said the focus is now on improving operational efficiencies and generating the technical and operating data required to support the design and development of a commercial-scale processing facility.

“Through this work, we are establishing the foundations to unlock the full value of the Hillside gold project,” he said.