Pan African commissions Mogale Tailings Retreatment operation

(Sharecast News) - Pan African announced the successful commissioning of its Mogale Tailings Retreatment (MTR) operation on Thursday, with the first gold pour at its smelting facility occurring in early October.

The AIM-traded firm said the project, valued at $135.1m, was completed under budget and ahead of schedule, with construction finalised in 14 months.

MTR was now in its ramp-up phase, targeting a steady-state production throughput of 800,000 tonnes per month by December.

During its construction phase, MTR employed over 1,600 workers and achieved zero lost-time injuries across 1.5 million man-hours worked, Pan African reported.

"Pan African has established an enviable track record in executing world-class tailings retreatment projects," said chief executive officer Cobus Loots.

"We are pleased to announce the successful commissioning of the MTR operation in October, ahead of schedule and below budget.

"MTR is expected to supplement our current production profile by more than 50,000 ounces per year at an AISC of approximately $1,000 per ounce, with a life-of-mine of more than 20 years if we include reserves from our Soweto tailings cluster."

At 1037 GMT, shares in Pan African Resources were down 0.44% at 36.19p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.