The cost of a 5 TPH CIP (Carbon-in-Pulp) gold processing plant depends heavily on the ore characteristics, gold recovery requirements, automation level, and whether you buy a complete turnkey plant or individual equipment. A realistic estimate is:

Estimated Cost of a 5 TPH CIP Gold Processing Plant

A typical 5 TPH gold CIP plant usually falls around:

$700,000 – $1,000,000 USD (equipment + basic installation)

What Does a 5 TPH CIP Plant Include?

A complete plant normally contains:

1. Crushing Section

Purpose:
Reduce raw ore from mine size to grinding size.

Typical equipment:

• Vibrating feeder
• Jaw crusher
• Cone crusher (optional)
• Vibrating screen
• Belt conveyors

Estimated cost:

$80,000 – $200,000

2. Grinding Section

Purpose:
Liberate gold particles from ore.

Equipment:

• Ball mill
• Hydrocyclone
• Pump
• Classifier

Estimated cost:

$150,000 – $350,000

Example:

5 TPH ball mill:

• Diameter: 1.2–1.5 m
• Length: 2.4–3.0 m
• Motor: 45–75 kW

3. Leaching and CIP Section

This is the core gold recovery section.

Equipment:

• Mixing tanks
• Leaching tanks
• Carbon adsorption tanks
• Interstage screens
• Agitators

Typical configuration:

Leach Tank 1
     ↓
Leach Tank 2
     ↓
CIP Tank 1
     ↓
CIP Tank 2
     ↓
CIP Tank 3
     ↓
Loaded Carbon

Estimated cost:

$150,000 – $350,000

4. Gold Elution & Electrowinning

Equipment:

• Carbon stripping column
• Elution heater
• Electrowinning cell
• Rectifier
• Gold smelting furnace

Estimated cost:

$80,000 – $200,000

5. Tailings Treatment

Equipment:

• Tailings pond
• Thickener (optional)
• Filter press (optional)

Estimated cost:

$50,000 – $200,000

Example 5 TPH CIP Plant Flow

ROM Gold Ore
      ↓
Vibrating Feeder
      ↓
Jaw Crusher
      ↓
Cone Crusher
      ↓
Fine Ore Bin
      ↓
Ball Mill
      ↓
Hydrocyclone
      ↓
Leaching Tanks
      ↓
CIP Tanks
      ↓
Carbon Adsorption
      ↓
Elution
      ↓
Electrowinning
      ↓
Gold Dore Bar

Main Cost Breakdown Example

Factors That Can Increase Cost

1. Ore Type

Hard rock gold ore requires:

• Larger crusher
• More grinding power
• Larger ball mill

Cost may increase 20–50%.

2. Gold Recovery Target

Example:

• 85% recovery → simpler plant
• 95%+ recovery → more tanks, longer residence time, more equipment

3. Location

Remote mine sites increase:

• Transport cost
• Civil construction
• Labor
• Power installation

4. Automation Level

Manual plant:

• Lower cost
• More operators

Automatic plant:

• PLC control
• Online monitoring
• Less labor
• Higher initial investment

Operating Cost Estimate

For a 5 TPH CIP plant:

Assuming:

• 5 tons/hour
• 20 hours/day
• 300 days/year

Annual throughput:

≈ 30,000 tons/year

Typical operating cost:

Total:

≈ $10–30 per ton of ore

Important Question

The investment changes greatly depending on the ore. To estimate more accurately, I would need:

1. Gold grade (g/t Au)
2. Ore type (hard rock, oxide, sulfide, alluvial?)
3. Expected recovery (%)
4. Country/location
5. Do you need turnkey EPC or only equipment supply?

For a 5 TPH hard-rock gold CIP plant, a practical budget is usually around $800,000–$1.2 million USD.