QUEBEC – Commissioning has begun at the Westwood gold processing plant using ore stockpiled from the adjacent Mouska mine approximately 40 km east of Rouyn-Noranda. Owner IamGold Corp. of Toronto says the plant is expected to produce roughly 140,000 oz of gold this year, including 60,000 oz from the Mouska stockpile. The first gold pour is expected by the end of this month.
Westwood ore will be hauled 2 km to the existing Doyon carbon-in-pulp mill complex to be crushed and SAG-ball milled. The Mouska copper circuit has been temporarily converted to a desulphurization circuit, and cyanide destruction capacity has been increased to treat a greater volume of tailings.
The current Mouska flotation circuit will be used for copper flotation beginning in 2014. To treat additional ore, the circuit will expanded with the installation of three tanks, a cell, and larger copper concentrate thickener. A new zinc flotation circuit is also planned.
IamGold is also moving the paste backfill plant closer to the Westwood shaft so that paste can be gravity fed to the underground mine.
The Westwood proven and probable reserve totaled 940,000 tonnes grading 11.5 g/t Au. The measured and indicated resources are 1.4 million tonnes at 11.9 g/t, and the inferred resource is 9.6 million tonnes at 10.6 g/t Au.
Additional information is available at IamGold.com.
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