November, 2005

Kinross Gold Corporation, the world’s seventh-ranked gold producer, has recently completed the de-commissioning and clean-up of their Lupin Gold Mine in Canada’s North West Territory.

“Earlier this year we received an inquiry through our area representative at Lynum Engineering Sales about the availability of a machine to be used for a mill clean-up project” stated Mike Fullam; Knelson’s Manager of Corporate Accounts.

“After evaluating their requirements, we recommended a KC-XD20 with an integrated screen which they decided to take on a trial basis with an option to purchase” added Fullam.

According to feedback from Kinross site personnel, the unit quickly proved it’s worth when they began to process various high grade residues  from around the plant.

“We began processing the liner con today and it was spectacular to see” stated the project supervisor.

He went on to add “so far, using a low end assay grade of 42% for the table con (after processing the concentrate yielded by the Knelson) a very conservative estimate puts us at 355 ounces and some of today’s con is anticipated to grade well above that.”

After having the unit on site for less than 60 days, Kinross exercised their option to purchase the KC-XD20 outright.

What makes this case study so interesting is the fact that most, if not all gold plants have many locations where gold will naturally concentrate over time. Solids that accumulate in pump boxes, behind mill liners, in pipes, fittings, flanges, tank bottoms and everyday mill spillages can all provide sources of high grade feed that could be routinely collected and processed with a small Knelson Concentrator to keep this gold out of long term plant inventory and put into cash flow. Or, as in this case, a Knelson Concentrator can be used during de-commissioning to quickly add value and ounces to a company’s bottom line.