Underground Mine
Soon after acquiring the project, Mongold brought the Naran Mandal mine up to international standards. Mongold has expanded and reinforced the mine’s decline and tunnels; installed a head frame and an elevator on the first vertical shaft; installed a ventilation system, railroad tracks, and piping to remove excess water; and the company has dug nearly a kilometer of new tunnels.
Over the course of the year, Vein One was developed into an independent mine, capable of producing enough ore to feed the processing plant. A central shaft was completed to reach the richest portion of the ore body near the surface. Five crosscuts were driven to the north of this shaft and 27 more crosscuts were driven to the south.
Production
A USD $3 million processing plant with the capacity to process 43,800 tons of ore annually has been constructed, fully approved, and licensed at the Naran Mandal site. Gold production via gravity began in February 2016, and the cyanide circuit commenced operation in September 2016. With a steady stream of ore coming in from Vein One, the plant settled into its optimal efficiency parameters in 2017. The leach and gravity circuit are now handling more than 100 tons of material per day at recovery levels in the range of 90%.
