Vault Minerals (ASX: VAU) is in the final stages of commissioning its King of the Hills Plant Upgrade Project, 25km north of Leonora.
The first stage involves expanding plant throughput capacity to 6 million tonnes per annum. This includes installing a new primary crusher and extending the conveyor belt to link the new crushing facility with the existing plant.
Four extra carbon-in-leach tanks, two more gas fired gensets, a larger regeneration kiln, and new tailings booster pump are also included
Vault Minerals reveals the upgrade progressed on-time and within budget. Up to 90,000 tonnes of ore is expected to be fed into the new crusher from 31 March 2026. This is hoped to provide uninterrupted mill feed before crusher ore commissioning. The existing crusher was taken offline on 24 March.
The company is now progressing its stage two upgrade, which could increase plant capacity by 50% to between 7.5 and 8 million tonnes per annum at $57 a tonne. The second stage upgrade is expected to be complete during the second half of the 2027 financial year.
It has also stockpiled 15 million tonnes of ore that contains an estimated 180,000 ounces of gold product. This is planned to mitigate potential supply disruption risks from Middle East tensions.
Vault Minerals is a gold producer with assets mainly in Western Australia’s Goldfields-Esperance region.
Write to Richard Szabo at Mining.com.au
Images: Vault Minerals
