Eldorado Gold has completed the wet commissioning of the high-pressure grinding rolls circuit at its Kisladag gold mine in Turkey.

The HPGR project had been delayed for two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a slowdown in equipment delivery. The project was completed within the US$35 million cost estimate, covering a two-year period.

The circuit is now ramping up to production.

The HPGR is expected to increase heap leach life of mine recovery to 56%, an increase of 4%. Eldorado said it may increase recovery with additional optimisation of the HPGR circuit down the line.

At the Lamaque gold mine in Quebec, Eldorado has completed the connection between the ore transportation ramp between the Triangle mine and the Sigma processing plant.

The project took 18 months to complete, and finished within the US$24 million budget.

The decline eliminates 26 kilometres of surface rehandling and haulage, which will reduce carbon emissions as well as cost. It will also provide underground access for additional exploration, as well as additional drilling of the Ormaque, Plug 4, and Parallel deposits.

Eldorado will also be able to increase production at Triangle and begin mining at satellite deposits.

The decline also decreases the amount of energy required for mine ventilation, and also provides a secondary egress and ventilation from the Triangle mine.