Modern Mining March 2015

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GOLD
20 MODERN MININGMarch 2015
The company’s recently announced results for the
quarter and six months to 31 December 2014 sup-
port Pretorius’s claim of improved performance,
with gold production increasing by 6 % to
73 015 ounces for the first half of FY2015
compared to the first half of FY2014, with the improve-
ment being attributed to a 9 % improvement in the av-
erage yield to 0,196 g/t. Higher gold production and
gold sold, together with a stronger average Rand gold
price received, drove revenue 9 % higher to R1 015,5
million and, notwithstanding increased total cash op-
Ergo starts to see the benefits
The flotation section of the
FFG circuit at DRDGOLD’s
Brakpan plant (photo:
Arthur Tassell). DRDGOLD’s Niël Pretorius.
The new R320 million flotation/fine-grind (FFG) circuit at DRDGOLD’s Brakpan
plant on the East Rand has been fully reactivated after a temporary suspension
of operations for several months last year. While the FFG technology is not yet
performing fully to expectations, DRDGOLD’s CEO, Niël Pretorius, told media
representatives – including Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell – who recently
visited the new facility that all the statistics and trends were nowmoving in
the right direction. The Brakpan plant forms the centrepiece of DRDGOLD’s Ergo
operation, one of the largest tailings retreatment operations in the world.