What was once viewed by many as an ugly duckling, Auric Mining’s Jeffreys Find gold project near Norseman in Western Australia has become a money-making swan that is set to deliver the company another $2 million from gold sales.
Management says the financial boost that is expected to land this quarter, following a $4.7 million free cash collect from the first year of the two-year operation, will also come with a $1 million return for loan repayments. Auric and its Jeffreys Find joint venture (JV) partner, Kalgoorlie-based BML Ventures, had advanced $1 million each to the operation in working capital that will now be repaid.
Auric Mining working its Jeffreys Find gold project in the Western Australian town of Norseman ahead of a toll milling campaign.
The news grabbed the attention of ASX punters, with Auric’s share price jumping 15 per cent to an intraday trading high of 23c after closing yesterday at 20c.
BML, the on-ground operator for the equally-shared JV, has now completed the first of two toll-milling campaigns planned for this year at the Jeffreys Find open pit mine. The JV today confirmed that 150,000 tonnes of ore have now been toll-treated … and there appears to be plenty of blue sky ahead.
‘Jeffreys Find will be a substantial cash producer for Auric in 2024 and 2025 and we find ourselves in a robust position.’
Auric Mining managing director Mark English
A second campaign is expected to kick off later this month, but management says a substantial 43,402 tonnes has already been transported for treatment to the Greenfields Mill in Coolgardie. BML is operating “24/7”, with an additional 30,000 tonnes stockpiled on the run-of-mine (ROM) pad at site ready to be transported to Greenfields.
Auric Mining managing director Mark English said: “We will bank $2 million this quarter, marking first proceeds to Auric from the 2024 mining of Jeffreys Find. We are exceeding our targets and with the gold price holding around AU$3,500 an ounce, the timing is perfect. Jeffreys Find will be a substantial cash producer for Auric in 2024 and 2025 and we find ourselves in a robust position.”
The current Greenfields Mill agreement is to process 300,000 tonnes for the year, with 150,000 tonnes of the ore to be milled in the next six to seven weeks. It is scheduled to start on July 24 and conclude in early September.
However, because of BML’s plans to extract considerably more than that figure, it is looking to schedule further gold milling operations later this year and early next year. The JV says discussions are already underway to establish where the excess tonnage will be toll-milled.