Highland Gold Mining Limited 1st Gold Pour at Kekura and Capital Project Update (6654G)

TIDMHGM

RNS Number : 6654G

Highland Gold Mining Limited

19 March 2020

HIGHLAND GOLD MINING LIMITED

19 March 2020

First Gold Pour at Kekura and Capital Projects Update

Highland Gold Mining Limited ("Highland Gold" or the "Company", AIM: HGM) is pleased to announce the first gold pour at the Company's premier development project, Kekura, which occurred on March 10, 2020. The inaugural gold bar, weighing 46 ounces, was produced at the mine's pilot processing plant following renovations to the facility last year and commissioning work in the first two months of 2020. Initial stripping and ore mining at Kekura began last October.

The pilot processing plant has the capacity to treat 120 thousand tonnes of ore per year with test work showing recoveries of around 35%. Middlings from the pilot plant will be stored for eventual treatment at Kekura's main processing plant, which is due for completion in late 2022 and has a designed annual capacity of 800k tonnes with recoveries of around 85%.

Denis Alexandrov, Chief Executive Officer, said: "On behalf of everyone at the company, I would like to congratulate the Kekura team on their first gold pour. While we don't expect significant production from Kekura this year, the early mining and processing work currently underway at the site will help us to build a strong team, to fine tune systems, to better understand the ore body, and to prepare for a smooth launch of commercial production down the road."

Since the beginning of the year, 3,500 tonnes of cargo have been delivered to Kekura to support construction and mining efforts, including 1,900 tonnes of fuel and the mill for the 800 ktpa processing plant. Another 5,000 tonnes of cargo is due to be delivered by the end of the winter road season, including 320 modules for construction of the expanded camp.

Belaya Gora Processing Plant Upgrade

Highland Gold is entering the final stages of renovations to the Belaya Gora processing plant, which is on track for completion as scheduled in the second half of this year. The addition of a CIP circuit to the plant is expected to improve gold recovery to around 90% from the current average of about 75%. It will also enable the plant to process ore from the nearby Blagodatnoye deposit.

All of the equipment for the project, from Chinese supplier Jinpeng Mining Machinery, has been delivered to Highland Gold's logistics base in Vladivostok. The first twenty-five containers of equipment have been shipped onward to Belaya Gora, while the remaining equipment will be transported in May. Site preparations for construction are already at an advanced stage.

Novoshirokinskoye (Novo) Capacity Expansion

At Novo, the planned expansion of mining and processing capacity from 800k tonnes per annum to 1.3 million tonnes is also entering its final stages and is likewise set for completion later this year. TOMRA X-ray transmission (XRT) ore separators, ordered from German producer Outotec, have been manufactured, tested and certified. They are currently being shipped to Novo and are expected to arrive in May. The machinery will enable the processing plant to sort and treat increased production from Novo's mine without the need to change the capacity of the existing metallurgical plant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

 
 Highland Gold Mining Ltd.     John Mann, Head of Communications 
                                + 7 495 424 95 21 
                                Duncan Baxter, Non-Executive Director 
                                + 44 (0) 1534 814 202 
 Numis Securities Limited      John Prior, James Black, Paul Gillam 
  (Nominated Adviser and        [phone] 
  Joint Broker) 
 BMO Capital Markets Limited   Tom Rider, Pascal Lussier Duquette, Neil 
  (Joint Broker)                Elliot 
                                [phone] 
 Peat & Co                     Charlie Peat 
  (Joint Broker)                [phone] 
 

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March 19, 2020 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)