Ship carrying Kelian gold processing plant leaves for Guinea

UK miner Guinor Gold Corporation announced Friday the ocean going vessel has left the port at Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia on October 26, 2005 containing cargo estimated to be over 50% of the dismantled Rio Tinto's Kelian gold processing plant.

The ship will be travelling to Conakry, Guinea via South Africa in keeping with the forecast arrival of the plant in Guinea in Q4 2005. The first leg of the voyage to Cape Town, South Africa is estimated to take approximately 16 days, arriving in mid-November and departing within a day for Conakry, Guinea.

To further speed up the delivery through the port and up to the mine site, Guinor had arranged in Q1 2005 a visit to Indonesia and the Kelian mine site by senior Guinean Customs and Mining department officials.

A second ship containing the remaining Kelian plant is expected to leave Malaysia for Guinea in Q1 2006.

Guinor acquired Kelian's gold processing plant earlier this year for US$15 million. Rio Tinto stopped its gold mining operations in Kelian in February due to reserves depletion. (alex)