Polyus Completes Verninskoye Mill Expansion


Polyus completes upgrades to the crushing and grinding circuit at Verninskoye.
Polyus has successfully completed the expansion of the Verninskoye mill’s throughput capacity to 450 metric tons per hour (mt/h) and 3.5 million mt/y. The $60 million project located in the Bodaybo district in Russia, which was launched in the fourth quarter of 2019, has been completed ahead of schedule and on budget. The upgrade is expected to generate an additional 40,000 ounces per year (oz/y) of gold.

Polyus also completed a number of initiatives to upgrade the crushing and grinding circuit at Verninskoye. This included the installation of an additional crushing circuit, which included a ball mill and two vibrating screens in the extension of the main building. An additional cone crusher and screens were installed to reduce recirculation and increase the throughput capacity of the existing SAG mill. The gravity concentration circuit was equipped with additional centrifugal concentrators and a hydrocyclone unit, which were also installed in the main building extension.

As part of the project, Polyus said it implemented a number of initiatives aimed at improving gold recovery, including the installation of an additional reactivation kiln, as well as installation of an additional centrifugal concentrator. This resulted in the recovery rate at Verninskoye reaching nearly 90% in February.

As featured in Womp 2021 Vol 06 - www.womp-int.com