Goldex - 63.67% Gravity Recovery in Year 1 of Production

Cadillac, Quebec; Canada - The Agnico Eagle Goldex Mine has now completed their first year of production with a very robust 63.67% recovery by gravity. This 7,000 tpd gold mill has 3 Knelson XD48 Concentrators installed on mill discharge, with the Knelson Concentrate upgraded on 3 Gemini shaking tables. Table tails are then scavenged with a Knelson CD12.Gold not recovered by gravity is floated as a bulk pyrite/gold concentrate, with the flotation concentrate trucked to Agnico-Eagle's Laronde mill for further processing (individual cyanidation circuit and Merrill-Crowe).

The start-up of the equipment was managed in several phases. As the Goldex ore is very amenable to recovery by gravity, steps were taken to ensure the gravity circuit would perform right from Day 1.

"The Goldex technical and managerial staff did an outstanding job getting prepared for a smooth start-up of this circuit." according to Mike Fullam, KGS Manager of Corporate Accounts.

"This is a site with a very high commitment to ensuring personnel are well trained, equipment is operated correctly, and problems are dealt with quickly and efficiently. Any issues of concern were communicated to us very quickly so we could jointly work on solutions." added Fullam.

Upon completion of the circuit, prior to commissioning, a comprehensive two day hands-on Operation and Maintenance Training Seminar was completed with Goldex operating and maintenance personnel.

"Knelson made some extra effort to have their training seminar and presentation translated into French, by their local representative Alain Bouchard, of Tech/Pro Inc. This really helped our mill personnel understand the equipment and  allowed us to ensure a high availability in the gravity circuit. During the first 2-3 weeks of operation, we experienced one or two unscheduled Knelson shutdowns. Since then, the equipment has performed with virtually no unscheduled downtime," noted Francois Robichaud, Goldex Plant Metallurgist.

As part of the optimization phase, Knelson will participate in a full-scale gravity audit later this summer. The audit will measure all aspects of recovery within the gravity and upgrading circuit, with the goal of identifying any opportunities to further increase gravity circuit performance.

"Both André Laplante and Knelson gravity modeling simulations indicated we should be able to achieve over 70% recovery by gravity. In the last several months we have been able to reach 67-68%,  with a concentrated optimization effort between Knelson and Goldex staff, we are looking forward to exceeding that mark." added Robichaud.

On average, the Goldex operation will produce 160,000 oz/yr over the next 8 years with the Knelson-based gravity circuit slated to contribute in excess of 100,000 oz/yr of that total.