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In African gold mine construction, material shortages, logistics delays, unstable power supply, and long civil engineering periods are common challenges. In countries with underdeveloped industrial support, such as Zimbabwe, the rapid delivery and on-schedule commissioning of a 500t/d gold processing plant requires exceptional capabilities in process design, civil engineering, equipment coordination, and on-site management.
With rapid plant construction as the core goal, Xinhai Mining applied multiple strategies in this Zimbabwe gold project, including process optimization, civil engineering innovation, equipment prefabrication, energy self-sufficiency, and refined construction management. The company completed all core civil and foundation works in only 30 days, overcoming local construction constraints and creating “Chinese Speed”. This achievement provides a replicable, practical solution for fast commissioning of overseas mines.
The Zimbabwe gold project is designed with a daily capacity of 500 tonnes, using a combined process: gravity separation + intensified leaching + cyanidation. The complete plant includes crushing, grinding, gravity separation, cyanidation, elution-electrowinning, smelting, and tailings transportation systems. The project site lacks mature industrial infrastructure: no ready-mixed concrete supply, high material transportation costs, unstable grid power, and high risks of schedule delays.
Under conventional construction methods, civil engineering alone would take more than 90 days, which not only extends the investment return cycle but also increases hidden costs such as on-site management, labor, and equipment idling. To help the client achieve early production and returns, the Xinhai team focused on rapid construction. From the design phase, the team adopted a “fast construction, fast installation, fast commissioning” logic, and optimized the process, structure, equipment support, and construction plan simultaneously. Finally, the core civil foundation was completed in just 30 days.
Rapid processing plant construction depends not on rushed work, but on forward design, reduced wet operations and simplified installation conditions. The project implemented three innovative design solutions to directly shorten construction and installation duration.
(sandbag blast wall)
The project uses Xinhai’s self-developed intensified leaching system. While ensuring gold leaching speed and recovery rate, the system simplifies process layout, reduces equipment footprint and pipeline complexity, resulting in a more compact plant layout and higher construction efficiency. For the 10-meter-high retaining wall of the run-of-mine stockyard, the team innovatively adopted an interlocking sandbag blast wall structure instead of traditional concrete walls. Local materials were stacked and formed on site, with geomembrane waterproofing and concrete hardening at the top.
This solution eliminates the demand for large quantities of ready-mixed concrete, bypasses local material supply bottlenecks, and shortens the civil engineering period by more than 70%. Meanwhile, equipment foundations and operating platforms—including crushers, vibrating screens, thickeners, and leaching tanks—adopt a steel support and bolted connection structure. Prefabricated in China and assembled on site, this design greatly reduces on-site welding and concrete pouring, and improves installation efficiency by several times.
(steel support)
Facing unfavorable on-site conditions, the Xinhai team reduced reliance on external support and promoted construction through independence, self-sufficiency, and refined management to achieve the rapid construction goal.
To resolve material shortages and high costs, the team deployed a brick-making machine to produce standard blocks on site, reducing material costs by approximately 50%. All concrete was mixed on site, eliminating ready-mixed concrete procurement and transportation and saving about US$180,000. To address frequent power outages, the project adopted energy self-sufficiency (solar power) equipped with special generator sets, and arranged construction during off-peak hours. For continuous key processes such as concrete pouring, 24-hour shift work was implemented to ensure uninterrupted procedures and stable quality.
In construction management, the project broke rapid construction into clear milestones. It prioritized civil works in core areas, including crushing, grinding, and cyanidation, while carrying out equipment foundation construction in parallel. The workflow followed a seamless logic: civil completion, equipment arrival, and installation advancement. In just 30 days, all core foundations were finished, laying a solid foundation for subsequent equipment installation, process commissioning, and on-schedule commissioning.
While accelerating construction, we always maintained process integrity and operational stability. The 500t/d process flow was designed and implemented based on advanced, mature, reliable, and energy-saving principles.
Process Flow:
Crushing uses a two-stage closed-circuit process with final product size controlled at 0–10mm.
Grinding consists of two-stage closed-circuit with gravity separation in the first stage: first-stage grinding fineness 60% -200 mesh, second-stage fineness 86% -200 mesh.
Cyanidation uses pretreatment and leaching with a total leaching time of about 36 hours.
The supporting 500kg/batch elution-electrowinning and smelting system stably produces qualified gold dore bars.
No critical procedures were simplified, and no equipment standards were lowered to meet the construction schedule. With a complete flowsheet, matched equipment, and controllable indicators, the project truly balances speed and quality, efficiency and profitability.
The Zimbabwe gold project proves that in overseas regions with weak industrial support, rapid processing plant construction is not achieved by rushing work, but by correct solutions and solid execution. Optimized design, reduced wet construction, local material utilization, self-sufficient energy supply, and refined management together turn tight schedules into reality.
Xinhai has developed a mature and replicable system for rapid overseas processing plant construction:
Prioritize steel supports, prefabrication, and simplified civil works in the design phase.
Use local materials, self-sufficient energy, and strict milestone control in the construction phase.
Ensure closed-loop process, stable indicators, and simple operation in the commissioning phase.
This model can be directly applied to mines in Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, and other regions, helping clients shorten periods, reduce investment, commission faster, and gain earlier returns.
Going forward, Xinhai will continue to take rapid processing plant construction as one of its core service advantages. With proven processes, innovative design, efficient construction, and full-cycle delivery capabilities, we provide global mining clients with one-stop EPC+M+O services. We rely on real projects, not slogans, to continuously demonstrate the technical strength and construction efficiency of Chinese mining enterprises.
The Zimbabwe gold project is a flagship project of Xinhai in Africa. If you are interested in a site visit, contact us via WhatsAPP:+8613811510145.
+86 13811510145