Auric Mining Ltd (ASX:AWJ) has begun its second gold toll milling campaign at the Greenfields Mill from the first stage pit at the Jeffreys Find Gold Mine near Norseman, WA.
The campaign will take around seven weeks to complete, with Auric to process about 145,000 tonnes of ore from the first stage pit all in one parcel. Greenfields will continually process until the parcel is complete.
Processing of the gold ore began on September 10 and first cash is expected in October 2023.
The money round
Auric managing director Mark English has called this campaign the “money round”.
“It’s the culmination of a three-year strategy from time of acquisition to bring Jeffreys Find into production and generate free cash to Auric. As this 145,000-tonne parcel is processed, we can expect sizeable cash payments to Auric in October and November.”
“With a gold price around A$3,000 an ounce we have hit a sweet spot in this project. Our timing could not be better, which is great news for Auric.”
Promising yields and financial upside
The ongoing stage one project, undertaken by Auric and BML, has milled an inaugural 36,000 tonnes of ore at the Greenfields site, yielding 1,720 ounces of gold.
With a head grade of 1.58 grams per tonne, the project is on course to mine and process roughly 180,000 tonnes of ore in its first stage. The second stage of the pit is set to start in 2024.
BML is covering all mining costs and expenses for the initial phase. Following this, the partners will deduct all costs, including a cash retention for the second stage, before equally dividing the surplus cash proceeds. Auric anticipates a significant financial injection in October and November 2023.
The project was initially budgeted with a gold price of A$2,600 per ounce. The current gold price of approximately A$3,000 per ounce, puts Auric in a strong financial position.
This is further strengthened by the short project lifespan, which is estimated to wrap up by late 2024 or early 2025.