The Spanish Mountain gold deposit is classified as a sediment-hosted vein (SHV) deposit, as defined by Klipfel (2005).

Gold mineralization occurs as two main types:
• Disseminated within the black, graphitic argillite. This is the most economically significant form. Gold grain size is typically less than 30 µm, and is often, but not always, associated with pyrite. Disseminated gold has also been associated with quartz veins within faults zones in the argillite.
• Within quartz veins in the siltstone/tuff/greywacke sequences. It occurs as free, fine to coarse (visible) gold and can also be associated with sulphides including galena, chalcopyrite and sphalerite. Highest grades have come from coarse gold within quartz veins.

Disseminated gold within the argillite units is by far the most economically important type of mineralization, and occurs in multiple stratigraphic horizons. From drill core, elevated gold content has been noted within fault zones as well as quartz veins within fault zones. However, the influence of fault zones in relation to the gold content of the deposit is not certain.

Examination of 15 representative core samples of disseminated gold in thin section work by Ross (2006) has concluded the following:

• Native gold (electrum) was identified in four samples, and it occurred as inclusions and fracture fill in pyrite, on crystal boundaries between pyrite crystals and in the gangue adjacent to pyrite. It i ........

The Spanish Mountain deposit will be mined using a conventional open pit mining method. A PFS level mine operation design, 14-year open pit production schedule.

The mining fleet will include diesel-powered rotary drills with 200 mm bit size for production drilling and down the hole (DTH) drills with 127 mm bit size for wall control drilling; diesel- powered RC drills for bench-scale grade control drilling; 15.5 m3 bucket sized hydraulic excavators and 13 m3 bucket sized wheel loaders for production loading; 140 tonne payload rigid-frame haul trucks and 40 tonne articulated trucks for production hauling; plus ancillary and service equipment to support the mining operations. In-pit dewatering systems will be established for the pit. All surface water and precipitation in the pits will be handled by diesel powered pumps.

Ore will be hauled to a crusher 0.5 km west of the pit and crushed to feed the process plant. Waste rock will be deposited into waste rock storage facilities (WRSF) 0.5 to 2.0 km west of the pit or used as rockfill to construct a tailings dam 4.0 km southwest of the pit.

Ultimate pit limits are split into phases or pushbacks to target higher economic margin material earlier in the mine life. The pits are split into nine distinct phases, with the initial phases containing mineralisation with a higher gold grade and lower strip ratio than later phases.

During the pre-stripping phase, all ore mined in the pit will be st ........

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The project will utilise a capital cost-effective mill design, including a target grind size (P80) of 180 µm, gravity concentration in the primary grinding circuit, 4 stages of flotation, flotation concentrate regrind and leaching, flotation cleaner tailings gravity separation, CIL, carbon elution and gold recovery. Leach- adsorption tailings will be treated for cyanide destruction and sent to the tailings pond.

The process design is comprised of the following circuits:
• primary crushing of run-of-mine (ROM) material;
• grinding circuit comprising of a SAG mill followed by a ball mill with cyclone classification;
• gravity and intensive leach circuit;
• 4 stages of flotation: rougher flotation, rougher scavenger, and 2 stage cleaner flotation;
• flotation concentrate regrind and thickening;
• CIL leaching and adsorption;
• acid washing of loaded carbon and pressure Zadra elution and electrowinning followed by smelting to produce dor ........