Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. has completed construction work on a new ore dryer and fine-crushing conveying system as well as maintenance upgrades to the roasting facility at its Jerritt Canyon gold operation in Nevada, USA. Commissioning of the milling facility is currently underway, which includes trial operation of new and refurbished equipment, as well as testing, calibration and optimization of new monitoring systems. Jerritt Canyon is operated by Queenstake Resources USA, a subsidiary of Yukon-Nevada.

The shutdown was initiated January 6, 2012, to complete a winterization and refurbishment program which included constructing a new drying facility and reconfiguring the conveying system in fine crushing. During the shutdown, the old dryer was replaced with a new ore dryer closer to the front end of the circuit. In addition, a new Distributed Control System (DCS) was installed for the entire plant. Commissioning of the new ore dryer, fine-crushing conveying and the DCS began January 23, 2012.

During the shutdown significant maintenance was completed on the rest of the roasting facility.

“We are currently in the commissioning stage of the milling facility refurbishment,” said Randy Reichert, COO, Yukon-Nevada. “The construction and maintenance work plan went well with only slight delays arising from high winds during the latter part of the shutdown. We were able to take advantage of the shutdown to complete substantial maintenance in all areas of the mill that had previously been giving us problems and causing significant downtime. When we are finished commissioning, we are confident we will have a plant that can run at capacity and can meet our production targets.”

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