Ora Banda 35% lift leaves output just shy of 2025 WA gold target
However, the company will land just shy of its 2025 production and cost guidance after encountering delays in a key mill upgrade.
Ora Banda says gold production for April and May clocked in at 12,100 ounces and the June quarter is expected to deliver about 24,500 ounces. If June hits its forecast of up to 12,500 ounces, Ora Banda will end the financial year 5 per cent short of its lower end guidance of 100,000 ounces.
All-in sustaining costs are tipped to come in at about $2600 per gold ounce, or 4 per cent above the company's previously guided high-end estimate of $2500 per ounce.
Keen to emphasise the upside, management points out that the expected 2025 total represents a significant lift over last year's 70,000-ounce result and that recent processing bottlenecks are now behind them.
A planned upgrade to install new lifters and liners to the mine's primary mill presented a key challenge in the past few months and the commissioning process dragged on longer than anticipated, disrupting output for April and May. With the works now completed, the plant is now nailing throughput rates of up to 4,000 tonnes per day.
Meanwhile, the company is hitting its stride on the mining front. Production from Ora Banda's Riverina and Sand King pits is forecast to contribute a combined 14,500 ounces in June alone. Riverina is in steady-state production, while Sand King is ramping up following a restart.
Ora Banda is also sitting on a healthy ore stockpile, built up during the processing plant's downtime. At the end of May, the company had 83,000 tonnes of medium-grade ore at 2.8 grams per tonne (g/t) for 7,500 ounces and 114,000t of low-grade material grading 1.2g/t for an additional 4,400 ounces.
Three years ago, Davyhurst was treading water, churning out just 12,000 ounces of gold per quarter with grades barely hitting 1.5g/t.
That changed when seasoned mining hand Luke Creagh took Ora Banda's reins as managing director. In a stunning turnaround, Creagh breathed new life into the ageing project, doubling production and proving the doubters wrong on an asset many had already written off as yesterday's story.
Davyhurst now has two operating underground mines, with the Riverina deposit initially pulling much of the weight and half filling the 1.3 million-tonne processing plant.
During the past six months, management's priority has moved to getting the company's newer Sand King deposit up to speed to fill the mill full of high-grade feed. The move will provide Ora Banda with another significant inflection point for increased production and cash flow.
The company has also recently knocked it out of the park with some sizzling, high-grade intercepts at its new Little Gem discovery, south of its Riverina gold camp.
Best hits at Little Gem included a whopping 22.7 metres grading 5g/t gold from 481m, including a red-hot 6.2m section running at 10.8g/t. The same hole kept giving, with a further 10.9m slice of 6.4g/t gold just 40m further down.
Notably, the find appears to link up a chain of prospects from British Lion, through Little Gem and down to the 32,000-ounce Sunraysia deposit.
The company beat a quick march back to site, with the drill rigs now smashing out a 16-hole follow-up blitz to see what other treasures may be lurking beneath.
At the end of March, Ora Banda sat on an eye-watering cash pile of $80.7 million, giving it plenty of firepower to chase discoveries and fast-track extension drilling at Riverina and Sand King. The company is aiming to grow the project's 1.95-million-ounce global resource grading 2.6g/t gold.
With the upgraded plant now hitting full stride and mining firing on all cylinders, Ora Banda looks primed for a big year ahead, backed by solid stockpiles and a clear runway to hit its 150,000-ounce annual gold target.
Despite falling slightly short of guidance this year, Ora Banda's production trajectory remains firmly upward. With its key infrastructure hurdles now resolved, Ora Banda's push to become a mid-tier Aussie gold producer appears on track to continue.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
matt.birney@wanews.com.au
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
21 minutes ago
- West Australian
More gold jackpots lurking in WA dirt, top miner says
The man who helped unearth one of Australia's biggest recent gold finds says there's plenty more motherlodes in them thar hills. Former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill hit the jackpot when his exploration team discovered the Hemi deposit in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 2020. Despite the region being better known for its rich iron ore reserves, the discovery gave De Grey one of the most valuable gold assets in development in Australia, estimated at more than 11 million ounces of ore. The timing could not have been better, with bullion prices soaring to record highs in the years since, leaving the company sitting on top of more than $55 billion worth of gold at current prices. So De Grey cashed in, with Australia's largest goldminer Northern Star snapping the company and its Hemi project up for $5 billion. The deal earned De Grey and Mr Lill the coveted Dealer of the Year award at the glitzy closing night ceremony of this year's Diggers and Dealers mining forum. "De Grey Mining exemplifies all that makes our industry great," the conference's organisers said. "Exceptional market validation driven by resource expansion and investor anticipation." Now chair of Ballard Mining, an ASX newbie spun out of Gina Rinehart-backed Delta Lithium along with its high-grade Mount Ida gold project, Mr Lill said there was plenty more gold to be found in the red WA dirt. "I used to work with a crusty old metallurgist," he said on Wednesday. "He said, if it's under-explored, there ain't nothing there, i.e. the old timers have found it all. I think the gold industry in recent years has proven that that is wrong." Ballard already claims more than one million ounces of gold in its deposit, but with more exploration underway at the site, Mr Lill is confident that figure is just scratching the surface. "The geologists from De Grey were convinced that there'll be another Hemi somewhere," he said. Right next door to Ballard's Mount Ida project is a processing plant owned by privately-held gold producer Aurenne Group. It was only logical at some stage to hold discussions with Aurenne about potentially acquiring the facility, Mr Lill said. Flush with cash from the surge in gold prices to more than $5200 an ounce, mergers and acquisitions was a hot topic among delegates at the three-day mining forum in Kalgoorlie. Another recent M&A participant, Ramelius Resources, scooped the Digger of the Year award. The mid-tier miner, which a week earlier completed its $2.4 billion takeover of gold play Spartan Resources, achieved a record 301,664 ounces of gold production last financial year, demonstrating "outstanding operational and financial performance". West African explorer Turaco Gold won the emerging company award while the GJ Stokes Memorial Award went to Peter Cook, recognised for more than 40 years in the industry. A plane-load of workers was flown into Kalgoorlie to staff the gala dinner under the giant Diggers marquee on Wednesday night, before being flown back to Perth in the early hours of Thursday morning when the festivities had wrapped up.
AU Financial Review
21 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
‘Tenant's playground': office vacancy at 30-year high
Nick Lenaghan edits the property section, which covers all aspects, from residential real estate and housing and construction to commercial property – office, retail, industrial – and major ASX-listed developers and real estate investment trusts.
Perth Now
21 minutes ago
- Perth Now
More gold jackpots lurking in WA dirt, top miner says
The man who helped unearth one of Australia's biggest recent gold finds says there's plenty more motherlodes in them thar hills. Former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill hit the jackpot when his exploration team discovered the Hemi deposit in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 2020. Despite the region being better known for its rich iron ore reserves, the discovery gave De Grey one of the most valuable gold assets in development in Australia, estimated at more than 11 million ounces of ore. The timing could not have been better, with bullion prices soaring to record highs in the years since, leaving the company sitting on top of more than $55 billion worth of gold at current prices. So De Grey cashed in, with Australia's largest goldminer Northern Star snapping the company and its Hemi project up for $5 billion. The deal earned De Grey and Mr Lill the coveted Dealer of the Year award at the glitzy closing night ceremony of this year's Diggers and Dealers mining forum. "De Grey Mining exemplifies all that makes our industry great," the conference's organisers said. "Exceptional market validation driven by resource expansion and investor anticipation." Now chair of Ballard Mining, an ASX newbie spun out of Gina Rinehart-backed Delta Lithium along with its high-grade Mount Ida gold project, Mr Lill said there was plenty more gold to be found in the red WA dirt. "I used to work with a crusty old metallurgist," he said on Wednesday. "He said, if it's under-explored, there ain't nothing there, i.e. the old timers have found it all. I think the gold industry in recent years has proven that that is wrong." Ballard already claims more than one million ounces of gold in its deposit, but with more exploration underway at the site, Mr Lill is confident that figure is just scratching the surface. "The geologists from De Grey were convinced that there'll be another Hemi somewhere," he said. Right next door to Ballard's Mount Ida project is a processing plant owned by privately-held gold producer Aurenne Group. It was only logical at some stage to hold discussions with Aurenne about potentially acquiring the facility, Mr Lill said. Flush with cash from the surge in gold prices to more than $5200 an ounce, mergers and acquisitions was a hot topic among delegates at the three-day mining forum in Kalgoorlie. Another recent M&A participant, Ramelius Resources, scooped the Digger of the Year award. The mid-tier miner, which a week earlier completed its $2.4 billion takeover of gold play Spartan Resources, achieved a record 301,664 ounces of gold production last financial year, demonstrating "outstanding operational and financial performance". West African explorer Turaco Gold won the emerging company award while the GJ Stokes Memorial Award went to Peter Cook, recognised for more than 40 years in the industry. A plane-load of workers was flown into Kalgoorlie to staff the gala dinner under the giant Diggers marquee on Wednesday night, before being flown back to Perth in the early hours of Thursday morning when the festivities had wrapped up.
