Allied Gold has completed and energized the power connection for its Kurmuk Mine in western Ethiopia, marking a key infrastructure milestone as Kurmuk Mine commissioning progresses toward operations. The company has also fed first ore through the processing facility’s crushing circuit as it prepares for further commissioning and a gradual ramp-up to commercial production.
The 88-kilometre power line connects Kurmuk to the Ethiopian electrical grid and is now supplying power needed to complete Kurmuk Mine commissioning and advance the site’s ramp-up. The connection includes associated substations and was completed by Ethiopian Electric Power under a 20-year power purchase agreement that provides electricity at a fixed rate of approximately US$0.04 per kilowatt-hour.
The infrastructure milestone comes as Allied Gold moves the project from construction into a series of operational readiness stages. The company said mining continues to advance, while ore stockpiles are being built to support plant feed as additional processing systems are commissioned.
Kurmuk Processing Systems Move Through Commissioning
First ore was fed through the crushing circuit earlier in September, with the handover of the circuit from the commissioning team to the operations team now under way. Allied Gold said the next stage will involve introducing ore to the grinding and downstream processing circuits as those systems are progressively completed and tested.
The company has established an ore stockpile of approximately one million tonnes and plans to increase that inventory to nearly 1.5 million tonnes, equivalent to around three months of planned ore feed ahead of full circuit commissioning. Initial mining is expected to come from the Dish Mountain and Ashashire open pits, which contain the project’s current mineral resources and reserves.
Across the site, individual systems are being completed, tested against design parameters and transferred from the construction and Kurmuk Mine commissioning team to operations. Electrical, instrumentation and other systems testing remains under way as the project progresses through its remaining commissioning activities.
Mine Moves Toward First Gold Production
Kurmuk is designed as a conventional truck-and-shovel open-pit operation with a carbon-in-leach processing plant. Allied Gold said the project contains 2.7 million ounces of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves in the initial mining areas, with exploration continuing across the wider property to identify additional resources and extend the mine life.
The company expects to introduce first ore to the grinding circuit in the coming weeks, followed by first gold after further Kurmuk Mine commissioning is completed. Those milestones remain forward-looking and depend on the successful completion of the remaining work and testing at the site.
Allied Gold has identified Kurmuk as a major contributor to its production growth strategy, with initial full-year production guidance of 240,000 to 270,000 ounces and approximately 300,000 ounces in the following year. The mine is therefore progressing through Kurmuk Mine commissioning from infrastructure completion and processing tests toward the next stages of commissioning and eventual commercial operations.