Challenger Gold Limited (ASX: CEL) (“CEL” the “Company”) notes the ASX Release by Austral Gold Limited titled ‘Austral Gold Provides Update on Casposo Plant Refurbishment’ today. The release provides an update on the refurbishment of the Casposo Processing Plant and reports that the refurbishment is on track for the start up of commercial operations in the second half of 2025.
HIGHLIGHTS
Austral Gold announced that Casposo Plant refurbishment is advancing safely and efficiently across all core workstreams.
Austral update aligns with second independent plant inspection commissioned by CEL.
CEL’s inspection was undertaken by the same process engineers that completed the Audit of the Casposo Plant and Restart Plan in December 2024.
Key takeaways from the second inspection report commissioned by CEL are:
Robust advancement across all key processing areas
Progress in line with existing refurbishment schedule
Solid-liquid separation capacity (previously identified as a key risk) appears adequate for the required 1000 TPD capacity
Sufficient time remaining to complete all maintenance work to meet the commissioning target in Toll Milling Agreement during the second half of 2025.
The Austral update aligns with a second independent plant independent inspection report received by the Company during April 2025. This report was prepared by the leading process group that completed the independent Audit of the Casposo Plant in December 2024 (ASX Release dated 13 December 2024).
Background to Toll Milling
The Company has executed a binding Agreement with Casposo Argentina Mining Limited, the operator of the Casposo Plant located in San Juan Argentina. This Toll Milling Agreement secures processing of a minimum of 450,000t of near surface Hualilan mineralised material over 3 years (ASX Release dated 30 December 2024).
The Casposo Plant, located 170km from Hualilan via established roads, has historically produced over 323,000 ounces of gold and 13.2 million ounces of silver. During operations, the plant achieved average annual production of 40,000 ounces of gold and 1.6 million ounces of silver at recoveries of 90% for gold and 79% for silver. The plant has been on care and maintenance.
The primary objective of this Toll Milling strategy is to capitalise on the current high gold price (above US$3,300/oz) to generate early cash flow. This cashflow will be allocated towards the construction of the standalone Hualilan Gold project including a Flotation with Tails Leach (“FTL”) circuit, a potential Heap Leach (“HL”) pad at Hualilan, and open pit mining fleet.
Click here for the full ASX Release