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- Theta Gold Mines has bought a secondhand ball mill for $550,000 to use at its Theta Gold Project
- The company says the 2.5 megawatt ball mill is cheaper than building a new one
- The mill can process up to 820 kilo-tonnes per annum
- Theta is expecting to have the mill by January 2020.
Theta Gold Mines has bought a secondhand ball mill for $550,000 to use at its Theta Gold Project.
The company says the 2.5 megawatt ball mill is considerably cheaper than if Theta was to build a new one. The mill can process up to 820 kilo-tonnes per annum and can accommodate future mining expansions.
During the feasibility study on the Theta Gold Project, the ball mill was identified as a long lead item that could potentially delay the project delivery.
In July 2019, Theta saw the opportunity to purchase a secondhand mill from Glencore which was last operated at the Rustenburg chromite mine.
“A dedicated inspection of the mill with plant engineers from METS South Africa Pty Ltd (part of the UMS Group) indicated that the mill was in an excellent condition with all associated parts being well maintained,” the company stated in an announcement to the market today.
The mill comes with spare girth gear, two spare motors, two spare gear boxes, liners and spare liners, seven spare slipper pads, and other key parts with assorted spares.
Theta says the new mill will have to be dismantled and relocated and has identified the appropriate engineers for the job.
The company says that an equivalent new ball mill with spare parts costs around $5.5 million and would take up to 40 weeks from order to delivery.
“Instead, Theta has managed to secure a secondhand mill in excellent condition, and with an inventory of vital spare parts for less than $800,000 (incl. dissemble & delivery), and pleasingly, it can be relocated to the TGME Processing plant by January 2020,” Chairman Bill Guy said.
“The purchase also provides certainty of grinding capability for the mine and, being larger than initially planned for in the feasibility study, allows for future throughput increases,” he added.
Both companies have agreed to start the removal of the mill in November and will be removed from the site in December.
“Securing this ball mill marks another key milestone towards first production,” Bill said.
