The Eskay Creek mine located in the golden triangle of British Columbia previously operated from 1994 to 2008 and was at one time the highest grade gold producer in the world, and fifth largest silver producer. Grades were so rich it began as a direct shipping ore (DSO) before adding a processing plant that recovered gold by gravity and flotation. In 2017 Skeena Resources acquired the property from Barrick Gold and began developing the project as an open pit mine with a processing facility producing a flotation concentrate. In 2022 a feasibility study presented a processing flowsheet consisting of multiple stages of grinding and flotation to produce a saleable concentrate. Following a strategic review Skeena Resources sought to simplify and de-risk the project and this case study outlines the design changes that were made and presented in a 2023 Updated Feasibility Study. Changes included initial upsizing of the mills to accommodate future throughput in place of later expansion, a finer primary grind and reduced number of flotation cells. The results were improved concentrate grades that provided better payables with a negligible reduction in gold recovery.
Sedgman Authors – Ben Adaszynski
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