Gold Fields and Gold One considering tailings treatment JV

Gold Fields Ltd and Gold One International have partnered to investigate the feasibility of combining their surface assets in a joint venture.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) entered into by the two miners will fast track studies of ways to reprocess the combined surface tailings deposits on the West Rand region of South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin.

These assets are expected to comprise in excess of 700mt and represent over 60% of the total tailings material in the region.

The tailings retreatment process is typically a high volume; low grade operation and from an economy of scale perspective should make it viable to bulk up and share facilities.

The surface mineral resources in question comprise both gold and uranium (see table below). Gold Fields is likely to contribute more in terms of resources but the eventual prospective share by each company in the joint venture will also have to take into account, amongst other things, infrastructure and plant contributed.

The Gold Fields’ tailings treatment project mentioned in the table is built around the existing tailings storage facilities and the current underground mining horizons of the miner’s West Rand operations: Kloof Driefontein Complex and South Deep.

Gold One recently acquired the Rand Uranium assets for US$250m and is currently working on a turnaround strategy for the operations.

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Tags: Gold, Gold Fields, Gold mining, Gold mining companies, Gold mining industry, Gold One

Posted by admin on Jan 25 2012. Filed under Gold mining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry