K92 Mining has awarded GR Engineering a $US81 million contract for a processing plant at the Kainantu gold mine.
K92 has owned Kainantu since 2014, when it acquired the project from Barrick Gold. The company restarted the mine in October 2016, and achieved a 500,000 tonnes per annum expansion in May 2023.
Construction on the new processing plant will begin in January 2024, and will allow K92 to process 1.2 million tonnes per annum.
GR Engineering managing director Tony Patrizi reacted to the news.
“GR Engineering has a long track record of successful project delivery in the mineral processing sector,” he said.
“We see this contract award as a strong endorsement by K92 Mining of GR Engineering’s proven process design record and EPC delivery capability.”
Kainantu is located in the Eastern Highlands Province of PNG, approximately 180km west-northwest of Lae.
Infrastructure at the site includes an airstrip in the Ramu Valley, grid power from the nearby Yonki Dam hydro-electric scheme, and a processing plant, offices, workshops, stores, camp and tailing storage facility.
The underground mine is accessed through a 2500m incline, with current mining operations focused on the Kora deposit with some production from the Judd vein system.
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