coco csesecesses

Cleaning trommels of

wet milling } lant

era for open pit mining, but the

start of a new one with the new McDame mine currently being developed.

Wet Milling

The wet milling pilot plant began operation in early August, although the instrumentation for the plant and some other process equipment was not delivered until later. Over the first few months of operation, the plant has

demonstrated it can run at its 1,000 tonnes per year design capacity and produce a marketable product. The results of tests indicate that the grading and drying circuits are adequate to handle the material produced when the plant capacity is increased to 4,000 tonnes per year, but cleaning and dewatering circuits require modification and additions.

To date, all tests have used current mill tailings, but the higher grade materials from the old tailings

stockpile will be tested later. This

stockpile contains some 14 million tonnes of material, with an

average grade of 3.5 percent.

Customer interest in the product from the wet mill is high, based on results from the operation of a small-scale test facility in 1987. Preliminary samples were shipped to potential customers for

commercial testing in early 1989.