The gold mining company RG Gold, which develops the Raygorodok deposit in the Akmola region, plans to expand the tailing dump to 80 million cubic meters, inbusiness.kz reports.
An increase in storage capacity will be needed to store technogenic mineral formations (TMF) coming from a gold recovery plant (GIF) with a processing capacity of up to 5 million tons of ore per year for the next almost two decades. This is reported in the materials of the hearings on the project posted on the website ecoportal.kz. Discussions are planned to be held in Bulandy and Burabay districts of Akmola region on 19 January 2023.
“According to the technical and economic indicators determined in the approved “Project for the expansion of the tailings facility to 80 million m3 of the tailing facility of the gold processing plant at the Raygorodok deposit in the Akmola Region”, the start of construction is scheduled for 2023, the completion of construction is 2037. The service life of the tailings facility is from 07/01/2024 to December 31, 2042, 18.5 years,” says the report on possible impacts, compiled by ALAIT, commissioned by RG Gold.
The tailings storage capacity is planned to be provided by building up the enclosing dam in four stages. The term of the license for the use of subsoil space for the placement of TMF is valid until 2046. A hydrodynamic accident at the facility is unlikely and can only happen in the event of a combination of natural and man-made circumstances, its improper operation is indicated in the non-technical summary of the project.
A new mining and smelting complex with a processing turnover of up to 5 million tons of gold ore per year was launched by RG Gold in October last year with co-financing from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan for $297 million, which made it possible to increase annual production to six tons of gold in doré. Then it was reported that the waste from the enterprise would be sent to a newly built tailing dump with a volume of over 8 million cubic meters.
A few years ago, the reserves of the northern and southern parts of the Raygorodok deposit were confirmed according to the standard of the State Reserves Commission (GKZ) at the level of 108 tons of gold. According to the Australian JORC classification, the economically viable reserves for processing of the two pits amounted to 100 tons, and their mineral resources were estimated at 185 tons. The life of the mine is 19 years, according to the explanatory note of the hearings. The company’s subsoil use contract has been extended until 2040, as specified on its website.
As of 2021, RG Gold was owned by Cantech S rl, which in turn was owned by Verny International SA SICAR (65%) and RCF VII − RG Gold S.à rl (35%). Moreover, the controlling party of the company was Cantech S rl, controlled by Timberlay SA (Switzerland), acting under a trust management agreement, the beneficiaries of which are members of the family of Bulat Utemuratov, and RCFM GP LLC from Delaware (USA), part of a mining investment group Resource Capital Funds.
In 2021, RG Gold received a total income of 10.8 billion tenge, which is half the figure for 2020 of 21.7 billion tenge. In 2020, the company produced 1,867 tons of doré gold, according to its website.