Classic Minerals' Gekko plant exceeds expectations for Kat Gap gold ore

Test work at Classic Minerals’ (ASX: CLZ) Gekko plant has validated the company's decision to choose it for processing of gold ore at its flagship Kat Gap project.

Earlier this year, the company announced it had commissioned its wholly-owned Gekko processing plant at a testing site in the Perth suburb of Gnangara.

The plant has a 30 tonne per hour throughput capacity and is scalable to 100tph using Classic's existing equipment.

Gravity and conventional cyanide leach have proved in previous tests between 95% and 96% recovery from both fresh and oxide ore samples from Kat Gap.

New laboratory testing has now demonstrated that the Gekko Inline Pressure Jig and Gekko Spinner delivered more than 95% of the liberated gold through a simple gravity process at a crush size of less than 2mm.

"The Gekko equipment also supported the decision that a low-cost plant will be able to deliver outstanding results," the company says.

Moreover, the plant configuration assists Classic Minerals achieving a greener, chemical-free footprint as there is no chemical involvement.

The power usage is also very low compared to that at traditional gold processing plants.

Classic reports that, once fully commissioned, the Gekko plant is expected to produce gold in line with the previous test work, which indicated a recovery of up to 70% of gold in the feed.

Chairperson John Lester added that, once the company receives approval for its tailings storage facility, it will begin the plant assembly and commissioning for processing of Kap Gat ore and producing gold.

"We already have the additional Gekko components that will permit a processing capacity in excess of 100 tonnes per hour," Mr Lester noted.

Kat Gap contains a shallow unmined gold deposit located 170km south of Southern Cross that was discovered in the 1990s and was the subject of a scoping study by the former Sons of Gwalia in 2003.

The project is located 50km south of Classic's Forrestania gold project.