ENGINEERING

KCA is one of the pioneering firms in precious metals heap leaching. Our first U.S. project at Manhattan, Nevada, in 1972 was only the third in the world.

KCA designed, engineered, and was the general contractor on the Hog Ranch, Nevada, 4000 tonnes/day heap leach. KCA provided all process installations and infrastructure at this remote site, including a man-camp and water and power supply systems. KCA also provided the most important aspect of a heap leach system – the design of the heaps and the solution application methodology. Hog Ranch was built at a total cost of $7 million and sold two years later for $100 million.

KCA’s Engineering Services Division can offer you a variety of services designed to improve or simplify your technical management decisions:

Initial Scoping Studies through Bankable Feasibility Studies

KCA can provide basic “concept studies” to help guide your exploration efforts. As the project matures, KCA can provide other studies up to complete bankable feasibility studies into detailed design and construction. KCA’s bankable studies have an admirable track record for securing financing.

Engineering Studies: 

  • Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)

  • Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS)

  • Feasibility Study (FS) 

  • Bankable or Final Feasibility Study (BFS or FFS) 

  • Basic Engineering 

  • Detailed Design and Engineering

Design of Process Components

KCA has a complete in-house design team to help bring flowsheets to life, creating efficient and practical plants to fit the project’s needs.  With LiDAR scanning, our design team can accurately retrofit or design expansions for existing plants.  

  • New Plant Design 

  • Plant Expansions 

  • Operating Plant Retrofitting

Design Concepts

LiDAR Scan – Existing

Reviews and Audits of Operations

All of KCA’s engineers travel extensively and are continuously exposed to a wide variety of operating problems and solutions. The review of operations is a major aspect of what we do. 

  • Heap Leach Operations Review 

  • Crusher Operations 

  • Mill Operations 

  • Metal Inventory Review

Performance audits of a heap leach project are difficult because heap leach recovery rates depend on many operational factors. KCA is often called upon to perform audits. We also provide routine “umpire” services for distribution of income streams to financial partners or royalty holders.

Reviews and Audits of Operations

KCA can provide a complete turnkey project to process your ore in the most cost effective manner. Why hire your own staff? We maintain personnel with peak technical skills who are fully supported by our experienced management team. We can handle your project from laboratory testing through gold production. We work throughout the world from our offices in Nevada, Australia, and Mexico.

If you are interested in obtaining any of our range of Engineering Services, you may contact us HERE.