Latest news with #Kalgoorlie-based
West Australian
3 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Auric lights fuse on first blast at WA Munda gold mine
Auric Mining has lit the fuse on the first blast at the company's Munda gold mine near Widgiemooltha in Western Australia's Goldfields region, marking a major milestone as it shifts from planning to production amid a buoyant gold market. The first blast was fired earlier this week at Auric's starter pit, just weeks after excavation began, clearing the way for full-scale mining. The company says it has already managed to shift 70,000 bank cubic metres (BCM) of material in the past month from a pit design encompassing 380,000BCM. Since much of the initial material has been free-digging, with no need for blasting, Auric would likely have scored an early cost-saving bonus before work on harder rock got underway. Auric is using a dry-hire fleet on site that includes a 125-tonne excavator and four 40t 'Moxi' dump trucks, along with ancillary gear. Kalgoorlie-based Total Drilling Services is handling the grade control, blast-hole drilling and blast supervision to ensure operations are managed with experienced local crews. Auric expects to extract 125,000t of ore grading 1.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from the starter pit, most of which will come towards the end of the initial mining at the base of the pit. The company is eyeing a maiden 6100-ounce gold haul from early mining at an all-in sustaining cost of just $2635 per ounce. When it first crunched the numbers, Auric based its projections on a conservative $3500 gold price - enough to deliver a tidy $5.3 million in free cash. With gold now trading at a blistering $5100 an ounce, the upside is looking far juicier, setting the stage for a much bigger payday from Munda's opening act. The initial pit, which is part of a larger resource, is expected to be wrapped up by October. Beneath the surface, Munda is also flexing some serious gold muscle. At a 0.5g/t cut-off, the deposit contains 3.65 million tonnes of ore grading at 1.23g/t for a solid 145,000 ounces of gold. If the cut-off is dropped to 0.2g/t, the resource swells to 189,000 ounces across the indicated and inferred categories. A 2023 scoping study by Kalgoorlie-based Minecomp ran the ruler over the broader Munda project and liked what it saw. Using a now-outdated base-case gold price of $2600 per ounce, the numbers pointed to 1.716Mt at an impressive 2.2g/t, which translates to a juicy $76.9 million in undiscounted surplus cash flow. It is anyone's guess what that figure could balloon to in today's hyper-bullish gold price environment. When the first mining phase is complete, Auric plans to finalise detailed plans for a much larger pit development at Munda, which is slated to begin in 2026. The early $6.5 million development cost has been fully funded from gold sales generated by Auric's Jeffreys Find project near Norseman, avoiding the need for further capital raisings or share price dilution. It also kills several other birds with one stone. By removing overburden - with a pre-strip ratio of 7.6:1 - while gold prices are strong, the company says it is likely to cut future mining costs and build resilience into the broader Munda operation against potential market swings. The initial phase will also deliver critical insights into the larger deposit, giving Auric a chance to refine its strategy ahead of scaling up to full production. Meanwhile, work preparing the site for longer-term operations is in full swing. Auric has completed waste dump and run-of-mine pad preparation, setting the scene for efficient ore handling and stockpiling as mining ramps up. Given its proximity to established infrastructure and a gold price that continues to sparkle, Munda is shaping up as a key revenue driver for Auric, especially given its unhedged status, which the company says will give it full exposure to market upside. As the gold price flirts with record territory, it appears Auric's timing couldn't be better. With equipment on the ground, blasting underway and ounces soon to be hauled out of the earth, the company is ticking every box on the path to early cash flow and long-term expansion. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Auric lights fuse on first blast at WA Munda gold mine
Auric Mining has lit the fuse on the first blast at the company's Munda gold mine near Widgiemooltha in Western Australia's Goldfields region, marking a major milestone as it shifts from planning to production amid a buoyant gold market. The first blast was fired earlier this week at Auric's starter pit, just weeks after excavation began, clearing the way for full-scale mining. The company says it has already managed to shift 70,000 bank cubic metres (BCM) of material in the past month from a pit design encompassing 380,000BCM. Since much of the initial material has been free-digging, with no need for blasting, Auric would likely have scored an early cost-saving bonus before work on harder rock got underway. Auric is using a dry-hire fleet on site that includes a 125-tonne excavator and four 40t 'Moxi' dump trucks, along with ancillary gear. Kalgoorlie-based Total Drilling Services is handling the grade control, blast-hole drilling and blast supervision to ensure operations are managed with experienced local crews. 'Mining is in full swing and all activities are progressing as we expected.' Auric Mining managing director Mark English Auric expects to extract 125,000t of ore grading 1.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from the starter pit, most of which will come towards the end of the initial mining at the base of the pit. The company is eyeing a maiden 6100-ounce gold haul from early mining at an all-in sustaining cost of just $2635 per ounce. When it first crunched the numbers, Auric based its projections on a conservative $3500 gold price - enough to deliver a tidy $5.3 million in free cash. Auric Mining managing director Mark English said: 'Mining is in full swing and all activities are progressing as we expected. We are achieving our targets and are exactly where we expected to be in the mine development. We are pleased to be monetising our major asset in such a bullish gold market, the timing is excellent. It is a great place to be as an unhedged gold producer.' With gold now trading at a blistering $5100 an ounce, the upside is looking far juicier, setting the stage for a much bigger payday from Munda's opening act.
West Australian
15-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Final payday for Auric at Jeffreys Find gold mine in WA
Auric Mining is lining up one last lucrative swing of the bat at its Jeffreys Find gold mine near Norseman in Western Australia as the company gets set to pull up to $4.5m out of the very last 60,000 tonne batch of ore. Marking the final act of an uber-successful two-year toll mining campaign, the last 60,000 tonne parcel of ore is now en route to the Three Mile Hill Mill in Coolgardie. Processing is scheduled to begin in the first week of July. About 16,000 tonnes have already been stockpiled at the mill and the company says haulage is continuing daily to meet the full campaign target. Auric is eyeing a final gold tally of around 2,750 ounces from the latest batch - a figure that would push total production from Jeffreys Find beyond the 30,000-ounce mark since toll mining began two years ago. According to management, most of the mining costs have already been paid, positioning this last campaign as a high-margin operation that could potentially generate between $7 million and $9 million in free cash, available to be split between Auric and its contract mining partner BML Ventures. Under the 50:50 joint venture with Kalgoorlie-based BML, which operates and manages the mine, net proceeds from gold sales are shared equally once all direct costs are covered. Auric says it expects to pocket between $3.5 million and $4.5 million for itself from the final campaign to round out a total earn of more than $15 million from the project. Rehabilitation and demobilisation activities are now underway at the mine to wrap up what the company says has been a textbook toll-treatment partnership. The unique structure of the Jeffreys Find joint venture saw BML Ventures shoulder all mining, haulage, and processing costs upfront, allowing Auric to benefit from a clean, low-risk exposure to high-margin gold revenues. Jeffreys Find has served as a stepping stone for Auric by delivering a significant injection of capital into its coffers that can be used to mine its much larger Munda deposit, also in WA. However, the exercise has also provided the company with a valuable lesson in mining techniques, which Auric can now apply as it winds up the partnership with BML and goes it alone at Munda just outside Widgiemooltha. Auric officially kicked off production at Munda by shifting first ore from a starter pit a few days ago. The initial five-month mining campaign is set to deliver 6,100 ounces of gold at an all in sustaining cost of A$2,635 per ounce - well below today's gold price of A$4950 per ounce. The mine site is now fully operational with haul roads laid, ROM pads prepped and a full mining fleet in place. Auric made the strategic call to launch operations with a 125,000-tonne starter pit grading 1.8g/t gold with one eye on an even bigger prize. By shifting the overburden now while gold prices are sky-high, the company should slash future costs for the larger operation and build a buffer against price swings. Apart from generating some valuable cashflows for the company, the starter pit will also provide useful insights into the larger deposit beneath, which should help Auric sharpen its strategy ahead of full-scale mining in 2026 Backed by a 145,000oz resource, a 2023 scoping study on Munda projected A$76.9M in surplus cash across its mine life using a very conservative A$2,600 per ounce gold price – almost half today's actual gold price. The $6.5M pre-strip cost has been fully bankrolled from profits at Jeffreys Find. With the final ore delivery at Jeffrey's Find ticking closer and the mill primed for a final golden run, Auric is about to ring the till one last time on a project that has delivered in spades. Jeffreys Find has been more than just a successful cash cow – it has been a financial springboard to bigger things and proof of concept for a company now shifting gears into self-driven gold production. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
The Age
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Final payday for Auric at Jeffreys Find gold mine in WA
Auric Mining is lining up one last lucrative swing of the bat at its Jeffreys Find gold mine near Norseman in Western Australia as the company gets set to pull up to $4.5m out of the very last 60,000 tonne batch of ore. Marking the final act of an uber-successful two-year toll mining campaign, the last 60,000 tonne parcel of ore is now en route to the Three Mile Hill Mill in Coolgardie. Processing is scheduled to begin in the first week of July. About 16,000 tonnes have already been stockpiled at the mill and the company says haulage is continuing daily to meet the full campaign target. Auric is eyeing a final gold tally of around 2,750 ounces from the latest batch - a figure that would push total production from Jeffreys Find beyond the 30,000-ounce mark since toll mining began two years ago. According to management, most of the mining costs have already been paid, positioning this last campaign as a high-margin operation that could potentially generate between $7 million and $9 million in free cash, available to be split between Auric and its contract mining partner BML Ventures. 'Auric will bank more than $15 million from mining at Jeffreys Find.' Auric Mining managing director Mark English Under the 50:50 joint venture with Kalgoorlie-based BML, which operates and manages the mine, net proceeds from gold sales are shared equally once all direct costs are covered. Auric says it expects to pocket between $3.5 million and $4.5 million for itself from the final campaign to round out a total earn of more than $15 million from the project. Auric Mining managing director Mark English said: ' Auric will bank more than $15 million from mining at Jeffreys Find. It's been a game changer for us as we transition to becoming a gold producer in our own right. These additional funds will be used to support the operations at Munda,' Rehabilitation and demobilisation activities are now underway at the mine to wrap up what the company says has been a textbook toll-treatment partnership. The unique structure of the Jeffreys Find joint venture saw BML Ventures shoulder all mining, haulage, and processing costs upfront, allowing Auric to benefit from a clean, low-risk exposure to high-margin gold revenues.
Sydney Morning Herald
15-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Final payday for Auric at Jeffreys Find gold mine in WA
Auric Mining is lining up one last lucrative swing of the bat at its Jeffreys Find gold mine near Norseman in Western Australia as the company gets set to pull up to $4.5m out of the very last 60,000 tonne batch of ore. Marking the final act of an uber-successful two-year toll mining campaign, the last 60,000 tonne parcel of ore is now en route to the Three Mile Hill Mill in Coolgardie. Processing is scheduled to begin in the first week of July. About 16,000 tonnes have already been stockpiled at the mill and the company says haulage is continuing daily to meet the full campaign target. Auric is eyeing a final gold tally of around 2,750 ounces from the latest batch - a figure that would push total production from Jeffreys Find beyond the 30,000-ounce mark since toll mining began two years ago. According to management, most of the mining costs have already been paid, positioning this last campaign as a high-margin operation that could potentially generate between $7 million and $9 million in free cash, available to be split between Auric and its contract mining partner BML Ventures. 'Auric will bank more than $15 million from mining at Jeffreys Find.' Auric Mining managing director Mark English Under the 50:50 joint venture with Kalgoorlie-based BML, which operates and manages the mine, net proceeds from gold sales are shared equally once all direct costs are covered. Auric says it expects to pocket between $3.5 million and $4.5 million for itself from the final campaign to round out a total earn of more than $15 million from the project. Auric Mining managing director Mark English said: ' Auric will bank more than $15 million from mining at Jeffreys Find. It's been a game changer for us as we transition to becoming a gold producer in our own right. These additional funds will be used to support the operations at Munda,' Rehabilitation and demobilisation activities are now underway at the mine to wrap up what the company says has been a textbook toll-treatment partnership. The unique structure of the Jeffreys Find joint venture saw BML Ventures shoulder all mining, haulage, and processing costs upfront, allowing Auric to benefit from a clean, low-risk exposure to high-margin gold revenues.
