Pan African Resources Increases Gold Production to 20,000 Ounces through Hydraulic Slime Retreatment at Mine

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Pan African Resources has increased gold production at its Muriel Mine in Zimbabwe from 3,600 ounces in 2023 to 20,000 ounces in 2025 through a hydraulic slime retreatment operation of dump material. This data was disclosed by mine management during a technical visit by the Zimbabwe Institute of Mine Managers. The dump retreatment relies entirely on hydraulic slimes from historical tailings; ore from newly delineated underground resources has not yet been processed. The current operational focus is on the remaining dump material, estimated to last about five months, with revenue being used to fund underground development and the construction of a crushing circuit.

The hydraulic slime process uses high-pressure water jets at 1,500 to 1,800 kilopascals to break down consolidated dump material, forming a slurry that is pumped to the carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant. Water supply consists of 60% from the Chawara Dam and 40% recycled from the Tailings Storage Facility. The processing plant configuration includes four 8×16 feet mills, a 35,000 cubic meter thickener, and a 10-tank CIL circuit with a 36-hour residence time. Elution is handled by two Zadra vessels, with a combined daily carbon handling capacity of 4.5 tonnes. A metallurgical challenge is copper content reaching 0.5% in some areas and the presence of preg-robbing carbonaceous material, which has reduced gold recovery from 80% in 2023 to the current 70-75%; operations manage this through selective mining and blending.

All-in sustaining cash cost per ounce remains stable at approximately $1,000 ($1,000 in 2023, $1,021 in 2024, $1,004 in 2025). Ongoing exploration activities have extended the underground mine life to approximately five years. Furthermore, the Aisha Mine has an independent resource estimate of 1.3 million ounces, capable of supporting a 30-year operation. A crusher is currently being constructed to process harder primary underground ore once the dump material is exhausted. Construction of the plant front-end has commenced. The mine is transitioning from solely treating dump material to incorporating underground mining, with the phase of processing primary ore to begin once the crushing circuit is completed.

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