Conclusions
specified that the path outlined will be followed in all
The simulator described has been developed and
tested on a number of plants in the minerals industry.
To date the system has been connected to control
systems with PLCs supplied by various well known
suppliers.
Kidston gold mines startup
D.A. Knight and V.G. Medinrt
-
Abstract Kidston's 14 000 t/d mine and mill com-
plex in Queensland, Australia, started operation in
January 1985. During its first 18 months of operation,
the mine produced over 7000 kg (885,000 ox) of gold,
making it the largest gold producer in Australia. This
paper describes the planning, logistics, flowsheet, and
process for the Kidston project, and some of the
problems encountered during startup and the
measures taken to correct these problems.
Introduction
The Kidston Gold Mine (KGM) is located about
280 km west of Townsville in the state of Queensland
in northeastern Australia, and is accessible by either
land or air. The Kidston ore deposit consists of two
adjacent ore bodies known as Wise's Hill and Mack's
Knob - North Knob. Gold mineralization occurs in the
margins of an oval breccia pipe. Gold occurs mainly
as fine native gold and is disseminated within the
breccias and fine veinlets. Total ore reserve a t the
start of operation was 44.2 Mt averaging 1.79 g/t gold
and 2.22g/t silver.
The mine operation started in January 1985, almost
three months ahead of schedule. This early startup
resulted in some savings in construction cost, and as a
result the project was about A$6 000 000 under budget.
Designed to treat an average of 14 000 t/d during its
first year of operation, the milling rate has climbed
steadily, from 8500 t/d during startup, to the current
level of 15 000 t/d. Except for the countercurrent
cyclone washing, the Kidston process plant is typical
of most conventional carbon-in-pulp ((;?P) plants.
Although cyclone washing has been used for many
years in the uranium industry, Placer Development
Ltd. was the first to apply the process in the gold
industry, when the Golden Sunlight Mine near
Whitehall, MT,was developed.
The startup included most of the usual problems, but
during the first two months two unusual events
occurred. The first was a two week shutdown as a
result of the SAG (semiautogenous) mill motor failure,
and the second was a 12 day shutdown as a result of a
strike by the Queensland Electric Commission
employees.
Feasibility study and planning
A successful mine startup depends on the quality of
the feasibility study. It cannot be overemphasized that
this study should be reasonably accurate, both in
MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING
Users in both the gold and coal industries have
future projects with retrofit systems being developed
for existing plants.
A major development now taking place is the use of
the model base developed as a CAD productivity tool
for on-lineprocess optimization and control. W
forecasting metal prices and estimating capital and
operating costs. An inaccurate study can either kill a
project or, if the project goes ahead, result in a highly
unprofitable mine. No amount of shortcuts can bring a
low budget back into line and still produce a good
operation.
In preparing a feasibility study, the obvious first
step is to find and evaluate an ore body, with a
comprehensive exploration and metallurgical test
program. As the studies progress, design criteria must
be set and sources of Dower. water, and labor must be
established. ~ r a n s ~ o k a tand
i o ~communication links
must be investigated. When the final feasibility study
has been completed and approval is given for con-
struction, a consulting engineering firm must be
selected to carry out the detailed design. Finally, a
construction management group must be organized to
take the project from the drawing board to an operat-
ing plant. The management group will select the
construction contractors and manage the project.
The startup is the culmination of years of planning;
engineering studies; purchasing; expediting; and
civil, electrical, and mechanical construction activities.
The final feasibility study for the Kidston Gold Mines
Project was completed in March 1984,after four years
of investigation and studies. Although final approval
had not been given, the engineering design was con-
tracted to Kilborn Engineering of Vancouver, BC,
Canada, in October 1983,and preliminary layouts and
equipment specifications were undertaken. The speci-
fications for the long delivery items, i.e., crushers,
mills, and large electric motors, were sent out in late
1983. The final "go ahead" on the project was given in
early January 1984 as the feasibility study was being
finalized. The mills, crushers, and large motors were
ordered immediately and all other equipment specifi-
cations were sent out. The result was a deluge of
quotations arriving all a t once, and this was followed
by an "echo" in September and October 1904, when
most of the equipment arrived on site. A construction
camp was established on site in early l W , and the
first concrete was poured in April 1984. The project
particulars are summarized in Table 1.
D.A. Knight and V.G. Medlna are general mill superintendent
and project metallurgist, respectively, for Placer Development
Ltd., Vancouver, BC, Canada. SME preprint 86-506, SME-AIME
Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 1986. MMP paper
86-614. Manuscript January 1986. Discussion of this paper
must be submitted, in duplicate, prior to April 30, 1986.
FEBRUARY 1986 45
 Table 1 - Kidston Gold Mine at a Glance
Ownership Placer Development Ltd. (70%)
Australian (30%)
Operator K~dstonGold Mines Ltd
Consultants
Mill Flowsheet Placer Development Lld.
Plant Design Kilborn Engineering (BC) Ltd.
Electrical Design M.A. Thomas Lid.
Construction Management Placer Development Lld.
Total Capital Expenditure A$137 000 000
Budget A$143 000000
Ore Reserve : Tonnage 44.20 M I
: Grade 1.79 glt Au
2.20 glt Ag
Overall Strip Ratio 1.46.1
Design Capacity 1 4 000 tld (Oxide Ore)
7 500 tld (Fresh Ore)
Annual Producl~on : Initial 6 870 kqla (220 000 ozia)
: Average 4 500 kgla (145 000 ozla)
Number of Employees 160
Power and water
The critical path studies of the Kidston project
showed that the two major areas of concern were the
supply of power and water. A decision was made to
buy power from the Queensland Electric Commission.
The nearest substation was a t Ross River, 296 km from
the mine. Initial talks with the state government
suggested that it would take one year to survey and
two years to build the 132 000 V line and that the work
would be done by the Queensland Electric Commis-
sion. It was obvious that this timing would delay the
project startup by many months. An accord was
reached that allowed the power line to be built by KGM
using a private contractor on behalf of the Queensland
Electric Commission, with completion in November
1984,many months ahead of the preliminary schedule
but just in time for the plant startup.
The Kidston Mine is located in a semi-arid region of
Australia, and there are no lakes or rivers near the
mine with adequate year-round flows to supply the
mill requirement. Studies showed that adequate water
could be stored by building a dam on the Copperfield
River, 23 km from the mill site. The dam building
became a n important milestone in the project, as the
rainy season is from December to April, and like most
desert areas the rain may fall a t any time during this
period or even not a t all. To expedite construction it
was decided to build a roller compacted concrete
(RCC) dam, patterned after a dam constructed a t
Willow Creek, OR. As the Copperfield River Dam was
only the second dam of this type constructed in the
world, our engineers studied the US dam carefully.
They employed Gutteridge, Hoskins, and Davie, an
Australian consulting firm, and Ernie Shrader, an
American consultant who worked on the original dam
for the US Corps of Engineers, to assist in design and
construction. The RCC design resulted in a dam of a
low volume, compared to a conventional earth-fill
dam. It became a high productivity project that was
both economic and fast to build.
The contractors completed the dam by October 1984,
a s scheduled in preparation for the anticipated rains.
Unfortunately, while some rain came in late Decem-
ber 1984,January 1985 was the driest in 80 years, and it
was not until March that the water level reached the
pipe intakes. As water was required from December
on, diesel powered pumps were required to lift the
water from behind the dam into the pipe inlets. The
task of keeping the pumps operating and supplying
46 FEBRUARY 1986
water to the mill gradually reached a crisis point on
the weekend of February 8,when it was necessary to
shut down the mill for 36 hours because of lack of
water. The shutdown would have come sooner had the
mill ponds and leach tanks not been filled in December
1984,before the mill startup. Because supply of water
to the operation was such a major problem during the
first weeks, a disproportionate amount of the plant
maintenance crew's time was spent in maintaining the
water supply.
Logistics and labor
The mine is located 240 km inland from Cairns and
280 km from Townsville. Therefore, overland, air, and
telephone communications were important considera-
tions. Equipment purchased overseas and in southern
Australia had to come through Townsville, since this
city is the nearest point serviced by railroad with
deep-sea docks to handle heavy lifts. Fortunately for
the project, there were only a few short labor strikes
on the docks, and none resulted in critical delays in
the project.
Roads to the site were basically in place, but as they
got further from civilization and closer to the mine,
they required upgrading. Approximately A$1500 000
was spent on the roads to ensure that trucks and
freight could get through to the mine during the rainy
season. The money was well spent, and there were no
critical delays during construction and startup a s a
result of shortages of equipment or supplies. Tele-
phone, telex, and facsimile communications were
established and proved adequate for the project.
One of the major considerations in a project of this
type is labor. Consideration was given to building a
townsite a t the mine. However, the site is basically
remote, with no facilities such a s schools and hospitals
within 100 km. The decision was made to establish a
fly-in fly-out camp, with the mill crew.working seven
12 hour shifts followed by seven days off. The crews
are flown in and out from Cairns and Atherton.
Problems did develop when two shift bosses were
stranded by a flood and could not reach the plane, and
on occasion when the weather was so bad that crews
could not fly in and out on schedule. These delays
caused some disruptions in the startup, but overall the
system is working well.
In a startup, it cannot be overemphasized that every
shift must have a t least one experienced shift boss and
one or two experienced operators with adequate
supervisors on hand to assist in training the "green"
operators and staff. One of the problems that has
developed with the resurgence of gold mining is a
serious shortage of people with gold cyanidation
circuit operating experience. Fortunately, a t Kidston
some experienced people were available, but not a s
many a s desired. Startup and metallurgical assistance
was obtained by borrowing personnel from the Golden
Sunlight Mine and Kilborn Engineering. A school
was run for operators, but it is always difficult to
teach inexperienced mill people what to do in a crisis.
Before startup, the assay and laboratory facilities
should be fully staffed and operating well. Usually the
mine will require assays for several weeks before the
mill, and every effort should be made to ensure that
the assay office can provide this service and thus be
ready for the mill startup. Unrealiable results can
make the mill operation extremely difficult, and total
confusion can result if the deficiencies are not
corrected. At Kidston an excellent assay staff was
hired and they were well prepared for the startup.
MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING
Flowsheet description Leaching circuit
A simplified flowsheet is given in Fig. 1 and a brief An agitated surge tank was provided to smooth out
process description follows. fluctuations in milling rates, a characteristic inherent
in a SAG mill-ball circuit. The slurry from the grinding
circuit, a t 40% to SOY0 solids, flows by gravity to the
R U N OF M I N E O R E
surge agitator and is pumped to the leach circuit at a
constant rate. A magnetic flowmeter in the pump
discharge line controls the speed of the pump to ensure
constant flow. A distributor box ahead of the two

!
parallel lines of the leach circuit splits the feed

b"m"ac

STOCKPILE
" " C u,F
THICKENING
STAG;
C A R B O N COLUMNS
1 equally to two lines of five agitated leach tanks. Total
retention time in this circuit is 24 hours a t 16 000 t/d.
The surge tank dimension is 14.5 m diameter x 11 m,
while the 10 leach tanks are 14.5 m diameter x 16.6 m.
Each tank is equipped with a 75 kW agitator.
1 SAG-BM
GRINDING / I TRASH SCREENS
BARREN
SOLUTION

Gold recovery circuit

LOADED CARBON
LEACHING
( 2 4 h l
6 STAGE CIP
The gold recovery circuit includes countercurrent
cyclone washing thickening, gold adsorption on carbon
in the CIP circuit and carbon columns. carbon
I
I
4 STAGE CYCLONE
WASH CIRCUIT

I I
SAIYETV SCREENS

(-)
UIF
DISPOSAL
ACID WASHING
REACTIYATION
I CARBON
H O L D N G TANKS
+
T O C I P AND
CARBON COLUMNS
Fig. 1 - Kidston mill flowsheet
Crushing and grinding
The run-of-mine ore is crushed to -175 mm in a
1.07 m x 1.65 m (42 in. x 65 in.) gyratory crusher and
conveyed to the 25 000 t (live) coarse ore stockpile.
The crusher is equipped with a rock grapple to remove
oversize boulders.
Ore is withdrawn from the coarse ore stockpile by
four 1.07 m x 2.4 m vibrating feeders, with two
operating and two on standby. The feeders discharge
directly onto the SAG mill feed conveyor.
The grinding circuit consists of a SAG mill, 8.5 m
diameter x 3.65 m (28 ft x 12 ft), driven by a 4100 kW
variable speed motor, and a ball mill, 5.0 m x 8.34 m
(16.5 ft x 27.5 ft) driven by a 3730 kW synchronous
motor.
The SAG mill, in closed circuit with two 1.83 m x
6.71 m stationary screens produces grinds ranging
from Kgo of 500 to 1000 pm depending on the type of ore
treated (present average is about 780 pm). The SAG
mill product is reground in the ball mill to produce a
final grind of about K80 of 210 pm (present average is
about 240 pm). The ball mill is in closed circuit with
six 0.66 m diameter cyclones.
This circuit processes ore a t rates varying from 475
to 660 t/h, depending on the hardness of the ore. During
October 1985, the mill averaged 630 t/h, with 96%
operating time.
MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING
I
LOADED CARBON
desorption, electrowinning by the Zadra process, and
smelting and refining of the loaded cathodes.
The discharge from the final leach agitators feeds
two four-stage countercurrent cyclone wash circuits
using 0.66 m cyclones. Wash water is added to the last
stage. At a wash ratio of 4 : l and cyclone underflow
DESORPTION
densities of 70% to 75% solids, the washing efficiency
is 99.8%.
The first stage cyclone overflow, at 18% solids, is
ELECTROWINNING
thickened to about 40% solids in two 13.7 m diameter
high capacity thickeners. The thickeners are equipped
with bed level sensors, variable speed underflow
pumps, and density gauges for automatic control, to
( ( REFINNG I maintain a constant underflow density and clear
overflow. The underflow is pumped to the CIP circuit
Au
+
- A0
and the overflow is pumped to the carbon columns.
DORE The underflow of the last stage cyclones together
with the CIP tailing constitute the final plant tailing
which is pumped to the tailing pond.
The CIP circuit has six 9 m diameter x 9.25 m
agitated tanks, each of which has 24 equalized pressure
air cleaned internal launder screens, 0.84 m x 0.45 m,
of which 0.3 m is submerged. The screens retain
carbon within the tank while allowing slurry to
advance through the six stages. Carbon is advanced
countercurrently between stages by vertical recessed
impeller pumps. Carbon concentration in each tank is
maintained at about 15 to 20 g/L. Total pulp retention
time is six hours. Carbon is loaded to 3000 g/t Au.
The carbon columns which treat the clear thickener
overflow are in two lines of five 3.2 m diameter x 5.0 m
tanks. Carbon is forwarded countercurrently by water
jet eductors. Total retention time in this circuit is 30
minutes. Carbon is loaded to 4000 g/t Au.
Both the CIP and carbon column circuits are pro-
vided with trash screens to keep wood chips and other
trash materials out of the circuits, and safety screens
to recover any carbon that manages to go through the
launder screens or overflows the carbon columns.
Seven 1.5 m x 3.0 m high frequency screens are used
in the two circuits.
Loaded carbon from both CIP and carbon column
circuits is pumped to the 1.5 m x 3.0 m loaded carbon
screen in the refinery building. The screen discharges
into a measuring tank. From this tank, the loaded
carbon is educted to one of three 1.83 m x 7.5 m ( 9 t
capacity) desorption vessels and pressure stripped for
12 to 14 hours. Hot aqueous solution containing 3%
sodium hydroxide is pumped up through the carbon in
FEBRUARY 1986 47
the desorption vessel a t a rate of about 30 m3/h.
Temperature and pressure in the vessel are main-
tained a t 120C and 350 kPa, respectively. Three
circulating hot oil heaters, each rated a t 60 kW,
provide the required heat for this operation.
Gold and silver are recovered from the pregnant
strip solution by electrowinning. Two 152 cm x 91.5 cm
x 91.5 cm electrowinning cells are in closed circuit
with each desorption vessel. Spent electrolyte is
recycled to the desorption vessel until the strip cycle
is completed.
After stripping, one third of the loaded steel wool
cathodes is removed from the first cell, dried, fluxed,
and smelted in a 250 kg induction furnace. The
cathodes of the second cell a r e transferred to the first,
and new cathodes installed on the second cell. Three
sets of cathodes are pulled each week. Each set is
"triple loaded" (three strips/set).
The gold buttons produced from smelting are re-
melted in a 75 kg induction furnace and poured into
32 kg (1000oz) bars. The bars typically assay 65% Au,
30% Ag, and 5% impurities.
The stripped carbon is acid washed with dilute
hydrochloric acid, to remove calcium carbonate,
reactivated a t 750 O C in two 225 kg/h vertical furnaces,
and returned to the CIP and carbon column circuits.
The acid reactor is 2.5 m diameter x 4.0 m, and can
hold 10 t of carbon. A dilute solution of hydrochloric
acid at pH 1.4 is continuously circulated through the
carbon in the reactor for about eight to 10 hours. This
treatment removes calcium carbonate scale and
metal cyanide complexes that are adsorbed in the
carbon, restoring carbon activity to the 60% level. The
thermal reactivation that follows restores carbon
activity to 96% of the original level.
After acid washing, the spent liquor is drained and
pumped to a storage tank for reuse in the succeeding
acid washing operation. The carbon is washed with
caustic solution to neutralize the remaining acid and
educted to the carbon storage tank from where it is
educted back to the CIP and carbon columns or to the
reactivation furnace feed tank.
Plant startup
Ore supply to the mill at Kidston was not a problem.
From the first day on, the mine supplied sufficient ore
to the mill.
The first ore was put through the crusher in Decem-
ber 1984. To save on concrete and construction costs,
the design of the crusher did not include a large surge
pocket or an apron feeder for the first conveyor. The
conveyor was designed to handle 2200 t/h, i.e., the
maximum surge loading expected from the crusher
when a truck dumps. Initially the ore was very dry and
fine, resulting in overloading of the conveyor. The
chute opening was reduced, and loading became
satisfactory.
Construction was completed to the point where the
grinding and leaching circuits could be started up on
Jan. 5, 1985. Several problems surfaced when the ore
started through the mill. The ore was difficult to get
started through the feeders from a full stockpile, and
the speed control on the feeders did not work a t all. The
feeders were dug out and once they were moving
regularly, they were operable. It was only possible to
adjust the feed rate by switching feeders, each of
which gave a different flow rate. After several weeks
of frustration, new controls were purchased, and the
operation is now satisfactory.
48 FEBRUARY 1986
Initially, the startup tonnage apparently could not be
pushed over 300 t/h, compared to the design rate of
600 t/h, so sample belt cuts were made. It was found
that the weigh scale calibration was off by a factor of
two. Recalibration solved the problem.
An error in design soon became apparent when the
trommel screen could not handle the tonnage of
rejects. Larger holes were cut in the screen and the
problem was solved. The trommel screen openings
were only marginally larger than the openings in the
grates. They should have been three or four times a s
big to handle tramp oversize.
For many years Placer Development has used fluid
drives for variable speed control on pumps. At Kidston
Gold Mines, the variable frequency system was used
on electric motors of less than 150 kW. These drives
can be changed very quickly and furthermore to lower
speeds without stalling. On occasion, this resulted in
subcritical flow velocities. The problem was solved by
installing a low speed limit on the controller to ensure
that the slurry velocity in the line was kept high
enough to avoid sanding.
The SAG mill is equipped with a variable speed DC
motor. The ability to vary the speed during startup
was a great aid and with the problems associated with
virtually no feed rate control. The mill could have had
considerable liner damage during the early days if it
had not been for the variable speed drive.
A major accident occurred in the early morning of
January 7, when a 12.5 m m bolt came loose from the
ring bus within the DC motor and fell into the motor air
gap. The windings shorted, and after about one and a
half turns, the motor "locked up" and the mill stopped.
Fortunately, the pinion was not doweled in and it
jumped back, bending the 38 mm jacking bolts. There
was no damage to the pinion and the ring gear. The
motor armature was badly damaged, but a full set of
spare coils was available. The armature and the upper
magnet frame were sent to the Evens Deakins Shop in
Brisbane, 1550 km away. The repair job was carried
out very quickly and 14 days later the motor was back
in service.
On the Kidston project, like many others, by the
time the piping was being specified and designed,
everybody's mind was on other things. As a result,
many of the small bore pump intakes were about four
times as long a s they should have been and their pump
bases were below the maximum water level in some of
the sumps. The grinding sump was particularly bad,
with some oil return pumps set low enough that they
got sand in the motors. These problems were fairly
easy to correct, but troublesome a t the time.
The surge tank ahead of the leach tanks was, with its
variable speed pumps, a good aid to circuit control.
However, several mistakes were made in leach
agitator design. This points out the need for mill
designers to get more information from the agitator
suppliers. First, the agitator upcomers were too big in
cross-sectional area and extended too far down into the
tanks. Second, the four air headers in each tank
extended down too low into the tank,and some became
blocked immediately. Third, the gradient between the
tanks was not sufficient to give a free flow of the slurry
from tank to tank. The use of air in the upcomers
helped the flow problems, and revisions to the air
system have gradually been carried out to eliminate
aeration difficulties.
Initially, efforts were made to run a t a low pH, 9.5,
but clarity could not be achieved in the high capacity
thickener overflows. The low pH resulted in a heavy
carryover of slimes to the carbon columns and the
reclaim water system. When operated a t pH 10.5, the
MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING
thickener overflows were clear. Considering the size and complexity of the Kidston
The carbon columns usually are all made the same cyanidation plant, with its SAG mill-ball mill grinding
height and stepped. The Kidston columns are on a circuit and cyclone washing circuit, the startup was
common base and each column has a different height very good. After all the minor problems were correct-
to give the required gravity flow. The design did not ed, the mill has not only attained designed capacity but
present any operating problems. The eductors were has consistently exceeded it. Recently, 18 625 t were
initially drawing from the outside edge of the columns, treated in a 24 hour period, exceeding the design rate
but because the activity was low, the intakes were by more than 2000 t. Recoveries have steadily im-
moved to the center of the tanks. proved since startup and are now averaging close to
The screens for the carbon-in-pulp tanks were the predicted figures. The milling rate, expressed as a
designed as balanced head-equalized pressure, air percentage of designed capacity, and the operating
cleaned (EPAC) screens, with the screens installed time for each month of 1985 is shown in Fig. 2. The
vertically. To improve the operation, the operators mill performance for the second half of 1986 is
now tilt the screens a t an angle to give better air summarized in Table 2.
sweeping action on the screens. An experimental
rotary screen was tried initially, and while the
operation was good, like many prototypes, it suffered
some mechanical problems. The rotary screen
appears to have a great advantage over the EPAC
screens, in that the power to drive the rotary screens is
very much less than the power required for com-
pressed air for cleaning the screens.
The recessed impeller pumps used for forwarding
carbon in the CIP tanks and for several other carbon
transfer applications worked well.
The carbon strip circuit, while it had some opera-
tional problems, worked well. Plate and frame heat A ACTUAL Vs PREDlCTED MILL RATE 1
exchangers were used by the Placer group for the first
time on the Kidston project and, unfortunately, the 20 - OPERATING TIME

wrong gaskets were selected. The initial gaskets are

completely unsuitable for a strip circuit where the 0 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' l '
gaskets are alternately wet and dry. When the 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
gaskets were changed to EPDM, there were no MONTHS AFTER STARTUP
further problems. The circulating hot oil heating
system worked very well. It takes about two hours to Fig. 2 - Kidston startup p e r f o r m a n c e
bring the strip vessel up to temperature and tempera-
ture control was very accurate. At present, the system
is handling 45,lO t batches of carbon per month. Table 2 - Average Mill Performance, July to December 1985
The electrowinning and refining circuits presented
only minor problems. The Inductotherm melting Actual

furnaces developed high temperatures in the cooling Milling Rate, tld Oxide Ore -
Transition -
water. Investigation showed that a partially blocked Fresh -
pipe line in the heat exchangers was restricting the Year One 13 130
flow. When this was cleared, the problem was Primary Grind, K80, pm 240
Mill Head, glt Au 2.14
eliminated. Leached Residue, glt Au 0.31
The vertical carbon reactivation furnace was a Gold Recoverv. % 86.2
Production, ksmonth, Au 752
major problem. The unit suffered from poor fire box Reagent Consumption, kglt
design and poor construction of the internals. The Sodium Cyanide 0.62
operators ordered a second furnace, and by May 1985, Lime
Flocculant
2.45
0.035
when the unit was installed, the original furnace Grinding Ball consumption, kglt
needed a complete overhaul. In a recent monthly SAG Mill 0.31
report, it was noted that both furnaces had been out of Ball Mill 0.40
Total 0.71
service for the whole month to make design
Power Consumption, kWhlt
modifications. SAG Mill 5.07
The reagent mixing systems for the 0.9 t bags of Ball Mill 5.66
sodium cyanide and the 25 kg bags of dry flocculant
worked well. The plastic piping in the distribution
system had many leaks initially, but these were In the first 12 months of operation, the Kidston Mine
gradually repaired. The lime slaking system was a has produced over 7000 kg (225,000 oz) of gold and
disappointment. It appears that a North American 3500 kg (112,500 oz) of silver, ranking it the biggest in
style slaker is not suitable on the type of lime available Australia. The total operating cost of about US $12010~
in most of Australia. For a future project, Placer makes it one of the lowest cost, low grade gold mines
Development would not consider anything but a ball in the world.
mill-classifierfor slaking poor quality lime.
The mill was just starting to operate smoothly when Acknowledgments
the Queensland Electric Commission negotiations with
their employees broke down and a state wide electric The authors thank the management of Placer
power shut down occurred on Feb. 12,1985. KGM was Development Ltd. and Kidston Gold Mines Ltd. for
originally allowed 10% of its power load, but this was permission to present this paper. We acknowledge the
soon dropped to 5%. At these levels, the mine was dedicated efforts of the mill operating crew and staff
unable to operate and was shut down from February 12 in bringing the Kidston mill up to design quickly
until February 23, when operations were resumed. and efficiently.
MINERALS AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSING FEBRUARY 1986 49