Construction of the CIL Gold Plant at Beadell Resources Limited's Tucano Gold Project in Brazil continues apace with activity accelerating significantly as the first gold pour draws near. The commissioning team, led by GR Engineering, which now has a presence on site, has identified that there is a mismatch in the Percentage to Complete document recently provided by the EPCM Contractor compared to GR Engineering's analysis of the position.

As a result, the commissioning team has revised the timing of commissioning to August and September with the first ore to mill scheduled for October 2012. However, a number of significant initiatives are now being put in place with the aim of bringing this date forward to September 2012.

These acceleration initiatives include, amongst others:
1. Increasing the Pre Commissioning expat team on site to from 1 to 8;
2. Increasing the EPCM construction personnel by 60% from 300 to 490;
3. Expanding the night shift with an additional 60 tradesmen;
4. Strict accountability regime for each work area.

Mr Peter Bowler MD of Beadell said that "While this delay is disappointing, we have adequate funding in hand and the right team in place on site to complete the construction of our gold plant to take us into gold production. Everything to complete the project is now on site which allows us to be in control of the timetable. With the wet season behind us, productivity levels have recently risen markedly. The Iron Ore Concentrate Plant's commencement will dovetail behind the CIL Gold Plant to enable us to take full advantage of this remarkable cost saving initiative. Additionally, by including the revenues from the anticipated Joint Operating Agreement whereby iron ore mined in the gold pits is cost reimbursed, Beadell will become a gold producer of scale targeting production of ~180,000 ounces of gold in 2013 sitting globally within the lowest cash operating cost quartile."

Source - Beadell Resources

(www.steelguru.com)