Kavango Resources (LSE:KAV) on Monday announced it has received statutory commissioning approval for its 50-tonne-per-day gold processing plant and tailings storage facility at the Hillside gold project in Zimbabwe, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the pilot operation.
The Southern Africa-focused metals exploration and gold development company said Zimbabwe's Ministry of Mines & Mining Development in Matabeleland South declared both units commissioned and operational on 30 October, following a compliance review and site visits during the week commencing 26 October.
The plant has been processing a mix of run-of-mine ore, stockpiled gold-bearing sands and freshly milled sands from Hillside, with gold production from the carbon-in-leach circuit rising from 397g at the first elution in August to 539g in September.
"Achieving statutory commissioning of the processing plant and TSF is a significant milestone for Hillside and an important step towards commercial-scale operations," said chief executive Jasper Musadaidzwa, who added that the company believes the project "has the potential to become a meaningful and scalable gold production centre" within its portfolio.
Musadaidzwa took the top role in September, arriving from AngloGold Ashanti, where he spent 17 of his 27 years in mining and most recently served as senior vice president of its Guinea business unit.
The pilot plant was built as a proof-of-concept facility to validate Kavango's processing flowsheet, running ore through crushing, milling, gravity concentration and the CIL circuit ahead of a push toward a larger commercial-scale facility.
Read more about Kavango Resources
- 07/09/26Kavango Resources appoints Jasper Musadaidzwa as chief executive
- 29/05/26Kavango Resources appoints interim CEO and new CFO
- 21/05/26Kavango completes Hillside metallurgical testwork with lab recoveries above 95%
Bill's Luck Underground, part of Hillside, hosts a JORC-compliant resource of 33,900 ounces of gold at a grade of 2.68 grammes per tonne, and metallurgical test work reported in May on blends of Nightshift and Bill's Luck ore achieved laboratory recoveries above 95%, with expected plant-scale recoveries of 90-93%.
Kavango said infrastructure work continues alongside commissioning, including installation of a 13-metre headframe at the Bill's Luck main vertical shaft, upgrades to power and water supply, planning for future exploration programmes and development of an expanded employee accommodation camp.
