After pocketing $4.7 million in free cash from its savvy Jeffreys Find project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region in 2023, Auric Mining (ASX: AWJ) is again ready to fill the till after collecting more gold from a new campaign at the site.
Auric today confirmed that its joint venture (JV) with Kalgoorlie-based BML Ventures has poured and dispatched six doré bars weighing 64.68kg to the Perth Mint and sales are imminent. The company expects it will “create millions of dollars in gross revenue”.
It comes after the JV completed toll milling of 30,300 dry metric tonnes of gold ore from the operation near Norseman to kick off the second year of a two-year operation.
Greenfields Mill in Coolgardie completed the milling process within a fortnight last month and Auric says the JV also remains on track to mill more than 300,000 tonnes during the second stage of mining.
BML is stockpiling ore at the both the mine and the mill, with the next processing campaign set to kick off in July through to August.
The partnership produced more than 9740 ounces during two mining campaigns last year, returning a total gold revenue of $29.28 million for the tricky project that had been overlooked by many other explorers.
Management says the number of gold ounces from the latest campaign, in addition to gross revenue from gold sales, will be known shortly. Auric paid $1 million as a working capital contribution to BML, with the JV partner incurring and paying all additional mining costs and expenses.
After completing the next and final phase of mining, the two partners will again subtract all costs before splitting the surplus cash proceeds on the same 50:50 basis that delivered them both a significant 2023 windfall.
BML is wrapping up the first gold campaign of the year from Jeffreys Find. It looks good and will create millions of dollars in gross revenue for our joint venture. Jeffreys Find Gold Mine will be a substantial cash producer to Auric throughout 2024 and 2025.
Auric Mining managing director Mark English
Last year, the company confirmed it had sold one 1264-ounce package at a record price of $3131 per ounce to the Perth Mint for a gross revenue of nearly $4 million.
However, with the current price of gold sitting at more than $3520 per ounce, Auric could be looking at a significant boost when sales from the latest campaign are finalised in the coming weeks. The first stage pit last year was designed on a base gold price of $2600 per ounce, while the new pit design is based on $2900 per ounce – still offering a healthy margin on today’s lofty prices.
Revenue from Jeffreys Find will allow the company to inject millions of dollars into its ongoing development and more specifically at its 100 per cent-owned Munda gold deposit near Widgiemooltha.
Munda hosts a resource of about 198,700 ounces of gold at a grade of 1.38 grams per tonne and is conveniently located about 34km south-west of the mining town of Kambalda. It sits just 3km south-west of Mincor Resources’ Widgiemooltha gold project, which has a mineral resource of 4.3 million tonnes at 2g/t gold for 273,600 ounces.
As it stands, Auric has dubbed Munda its “big game”.
Earlier this year, the company recorded multiple high-grade intercepts from grade control drilling at Munda, including a 1m hit at a stunning 184.6g/t gold. Drilling highlights include a 9m section grading 21.37g/t gold from 18m including the impressive 1m at 184.6g/t from 24m.
Additional high-grade hits delivered a 4m section going 20.13g/t gold from 28m including 1m reading 77.18g/t from 29m and 4m at 18.84g/t from just 11m including 1m at 68.94g/t from 13m. Wider assays include a 16m hit grading a solid 12.54g/t gold from just 8m, in addition to 11m going 4.51g/t from 40m including 2m reading 18.11g/t from 42m.
With gold prices maintaining a steady upward curve, Auric appears to be in the box seat as it continues to deliver solid ounces from Jeffreys Find – and clearly has even more to come.
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