Mining will be accomplished by conventional open pit methods, using trucks and shovels. The mill will process 5,500 tonnes per day or 2,007,500 tonnes per year, subject to the mining and milling capacities of the various ores.

During preproduction, roads, tailings dams, mass excavation for the plant site and various other earth work projects will be carried out using the mining equipment fleet. During the first year of pre-production, mining is planned in the CC-88 pit for fill material and also to expose rock for the production of aggregate for use in construction.

Processing

The main design constraints are the daily mill capacity, the gold content of the ore and the planned mill availability. The planned feed for the first 24 months is the saprolite material. In the third year, hard rock and transition ore from the CC-88 zone will begin to be added to the saprolite feed from the CC-88 and Scout zones. Saprolite reserves will be depleted during the sixth year of operation, after which the feed will mainly consist of hard rock ore at a rate of 4,000 tpd until the mine is depleted at the end of Year 7. The process flow sheet is relatively simple, and is largely based on experience gained at the Omai and Rosebel operations. During the first two years, 5,500 tpd (2,007,500 tpa) of saprolite will be processed at the mill. In subsequent years, a crushing circuit will be required to handle the addition of transition and hard rock ores to the circuit.