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Following completion of the second processing campaign, Auric plans to kick off preparations for a bigger prize at the company’s Munda Main Pit. Workflow will include detailed design, scheduling and economic analysis. Using a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t gold, the Munda Pit hosts 3.65 million tonnes grading 1.23g/t gold for 145,000 ounces of gold.
However, with a booming gold price – now trading at more than A$6000 per ounce – Minecomp have hinted by incorporating a lower cut-off to 0.2 g/t gold the indicated and inferred resource would swell to 189,000 ounces gold.
When the company ran a scoping study on the Main pit in 2023, its modelling used a gold price of just A$2600 per ounce to forecast a production of 1.72 million tonnes grading 2.2 g/t gold for 117,000 ounces.
Elsewhere, Auric has been busy expanding its gold exploration footprint in the region and picking up processing infrastructure in a bid to become a long-term gold producer.
First off, the company completed a deal to buy the historic Burbanks gold processing plant just south of Coolgardie in September for $4.4m. The facility, which has been closed since 2019, is within trucking distance of existing Auric gold resources.
Burbanks is a primary crushing, grinding and carbon-in-leach (CIL) facility with a capacity of 180,000 tonnes per annum. The acquisition includes all related assets, permits, licences and infrastructure from private vendors, including access to power, water and tailings dams.
Auric plans to refurbish the plant and at the same time increase the tonnage capacity. Several commercial options exist for Auric, including creating its own third-party toll treatment facility once the plant is up and running.
Last month, Auric also picked up the Lindsay’s gold project which includes four key tenements at Gindalbie, 60kms northeast of Kalgoorlie. The prize sitting within those grounds is the Parrot Feathers open pit, which was partially mined for just 6153 ounces before previous owner KalNorth walked away in the 2013 gold slump. It offers Auric a unique and mining ready opportunity to leverage existing infrastructure and capitalise on exceptionally strong gold prices.
Auric is positioning itself as a key player in Western Australia’s gold sector by acquiring cost-effective assets, building a portfolio of strategic tenements and securing processing solutions for ore from the Munda and Lindsay’s projects. With gold prices surging, the company is poised for significant growth and profitability across the Western Australian gold sector.
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