JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Local mining services provider Manhattan Corporation would undertake a R160-million contract to build a 25 000 t/m carbon-in-leach (CIL) gold plant, in Mekelle, in Ethiopia, for industrial group Ezana Mining and Development.

The contract would see Manhattan supplying the gold plant on a turnkey basis and included design, engineering, procurement, shipment, construction, installation, implementation, after-sales skills development and support, with an optional offtake contract.

Work on the operation began earlier this month and the plant was expected to be operational by the end of the year.

The company added that the plant process would incorporate crushing, milling, leaching, carbon absorption, washing, stripping, elution, electrowinning and smelting.

“Manhattan is committed to incorporating Ethiopian suppliers, manufacturers and content to maximise job creation and economic development in that country,” Manhattan FD Theo Pouroullis said in a statement.

The plant would incorporate several innovative technologies, including optimised leaching and air-sparging, as well as adaptable feed to the comminution circuit to allow for improved plant availability, up-time and increased final gold production.

The technology provided incorporated CIL and carbon-in-pulp, which consisted of a series of tanks enabling adequate residence time.
The first two tanks would be used for leaching while the remaining six would be used for leaching and absorption.

Manhattan also recently concluded a plant expansion feasibility study for a Glencore subsidiary, in Australia, which involved an assessment of the increase in processing capacity for the operation and a reduction in the overall operating costs.

Additional recent projects included the development of a three-dimensional underground resource development and mine plan for the Manhattan-owned Gravelotte gold mine, in South Africa, which increased the resource from previous inferred resource estimates to a one-million-ounce probable gold reserve.