SRK was initially commissioned by Altynalmas in 2016 to report a Mineral Resource Estimate for the Pustynnoye deposit in accordance with JORC Code (2012). At this point the mine was about to be brought into production as an open pit and SRK assisted in the technical work that was used to support the financing for the operation. Since then, SRK has undertaken a number of additional technical studies on the mine, including reserve estimation, a plant and tailings audit, and detailed geotechnical work. SRK also took structural measurements in the open pit to inform a geotechnical study relating to slope and ramp stability. The geotechnical work allowed slope angles in the open pit to be designed steeper where it is safe to do so. This has reduced the amount of waste stripping that is required which has reduced the unit mining costs.
A key part of the recent SRK mandate has been geometallurgical domaining in the resource model. This was necessary because Pustynnoye has some ore types that are refractory or semi refractory in terms of process recovery. A blend of these ore types is required to get the highest recovery of gold from the ore. The geometallurgical model created by SRK using Leapfrog software considered not only gold but flotation recovery as key parameters. A large number of flotation recovery results from metallurgical tests on core samples were estimated into the block model and recoverable gold was then calculated. These data were subsequently fed into the mine planning and production forecasting. This approach has allowed blending of plant feed to maintain an optimal balance of ore type into the primary crusher. A balanced and predictable feed allows the plant operators to optimise comminution and reagents.
As part of this assignment, SRK provided on the job training to the Client staff to enable them to update the geological and resource models in the future. In addition, SRK assisted in the development of detailed procedures for geological and geotechnical logging, sampling, QAQC and laboratory protocols.
