AIM quoted gold producer Goldplat Plc (LON:GDP) has been given the go ahead by authorities in Kenya to start producing gold from stockpiles of ore at its Kilimapesa Hill gold mining project. The move follows the conditional approval of a mining lease for the project, which was received in July 2010, and will now see Goldpalt kick off production while it waits for the finalisation of the mining lease. The underground operations at Kilimapesa will not begin operations until the routine registration process of the cadastral survey submission with the Director of Survey is completed.

Goldplat already makes a healthy profit from its gold re-processing operations in Ghana and South Africa and has been keen to divert some of that cash into its own production projects. That included buying out the remaining 50% of the Kilimapesa project in September last year for US$2.7m, and later on the acquisition of an option in the Nyieme gold project in Burkina Faso. Work on re-commissioning the processing plant at Kilimapesa has already started and Goldplat's management expect that it will be at a full processing capacity of 1,000 tonnes of ore per month by early September 2010. The existing stockpiles are expected to provide enough mill feed until full underground operations resume.

Demetri Manolis, Goldplat’s chief executive, said: “Naturally we are delighted that we have been given the green light by the Commissioner of Mines and Geology in Kenya to produce gold commercially at Kilimapesa. Our near-term objective remains the establishment of a profitable small mine producing circa 5,000-6,000 oz of gold per year within 12 months of being issued the mining licence.”

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