Vancouver, January 8 / TheNewswire / 2018 - John Cumming, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stellar AfricaGold Inc., (TSX-V: SPX) ("Stellar" or the "Company") announces:
BALANDOUGOU GOLD PROJECT MILL CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Stellar is developing the promising gold potential of the advanced exploration stage B3 Zone of its 100% controlled Balandougou Gold Project in Guinea, including the installation of a 150 tonnes per day ("tpd") gravity separation plant based on design parameters defined by SGS South Africa and manufactured by Henan Xingyang Mining Machinery Manufactory, a branch of XKJ Solution Group of Zhengzhou, China, to process a 15,000 tonnes bulk sample.
Construction crews and management supervisors have returned to work after a brief seasonal holiday break. The gravity plant equipment, structural steel footings and structural steel supports have been delivered to the mine site and final assembly and installation is underway.
Picture 1 - 150 tpd Gravity Plant - View from floor showing the upper vibrating feeder and primary crusher
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Picture 2 - Five tonnes per hour ("tph")ball mill
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The concrete foundation and the steel reinforced concrete slab to support the heavy components of the mill are complete. Installation of steel infrastructure and supports for upper vibrating feeder and primary crusher is also complete. The cylinder washing machine is in place as is the 10-metres ore conveyer running from the feeder to the washing machine. Workers are currently preparing the steel structures to support the secondary crusher and the ball mill which complete the milling line.
Picture 3 - 150 tpd Gravity Plant
View from loading platform showing the upper vibrating feeder and 20-30 tph cylinder washing machine
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Picture 4 - 150 tpd Gravity Plant
Steel workers at work on ore conveyer with Knelson concentrators model STL60, capacity, 25-35 tph (right)
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A 40' shipping container, which will be repurposed into a secure 'gold room', is on site for transformation and installation of a shaking table Model 6S with capacity to process 30-60 tpd of gold concentrate from the Knelson Concentrator. The gold room will also house the high frequency smelting furnace.
The entire milling plant installation will be powered by a 250 KW YTO Diesel Generator set.
To alleviate any potential water supply problems and completely eliminate the high cost of transporting water from local sources, two 100-metres deep water wells have been drilled near the mill and are now operational. The initial flow tests for both wells are completed and together the two wells are supplying between 10-15,000 litres of water per hour, i.e. combined well steady flow rate. Stellar had previously built a 1.5 million litre reservoir which is being filled from the wells. The mill requires up to 30,000 litres per hour of water flow of which about 75% will be recycled and reused, therefore there will be abundant water supply for milling operations from the well flow and the reservoir. Any net decline in the reservoir level at the end of the day will be replenished overnight.
Final materials and accessories including air conditioning units and other electrical supplies, stoves and sanitary fixtures for the five support buildings are on site. Construction of sleeping facilities, kitchen and cafeteria, and bathrooms, showers and laundry is 90% completed. Day workers either reside or are accommodated in local villages, and military and guards are housed at Stellar's original exploration camp nearby.
Picture 5 - Staff Camp Site - Building 1 (staff accommodation and office) of 5 buildings total.
The mill camp has sleeping accommodation for up to 12 people.
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Picture 6 - 1.5 million litre water reservoir before filling
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Stellar has extracted and stockpiled the first 15,000 tonnes of gold-mineralized oxide material from an identified extraction trench and this material is ready for processing as an initial bulk sample once commissioning of the plant begins. All construction is expected to be completed by the end of January and mill commissioning will commence immediately thereafter. Processing of the 15,000 tonnes bulk sample is expected to take approximately 4 months.
ABOUT STELLAR AFRICAGOLD INC.
Stellar AfricaGold Inc. is a Canadian gold exploration Company based in Montreal, Quebec, with operations concentrated mainly in West Africa and in Quebec.
The Company is currently developing the promising gold potential of the advanced exploration stage Balandougou project in Guinea, including a 15,000 tonne bulk sample program. (see News Release March 1, 2017) The Company also owns the Namarana project in neighbouring Mali. In Quebec, the Company owns 100% of the Opawica Project in the Chibougamau mining camp.
The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by independent consultant Greg Isenor, P. Geo, a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.
