Australia is the second largest producer of gold worldwide, according to the US Geological Survey, and Western Australia (WA) is the dominant player in the nation’s gold market accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total production. Gold mining is the third-largest commodity sector by value in WA, producing nearly 6.9 Moz (or 214 tonnes) in 2022 valued at A$17.8 billion. Eleven of the world’s biggest gold mines are in WA, where Spartan Resources is advancing its flagship Dalgaranga Gold Property.
Formerly known as Gascoyne Resources, Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) is engaged in the exploration, evaluation and development of gold projects. The company is currently undergoing a pivotal transformation, underpinned by the exceptional high-grade Never Never gold discovery in 2022, less than 1 kilometre from its less-than-5-year-old, existing 2.5-Mtpa carbon-in-leach processing facility in care and maintenance, and the lower grade open pits at Dalgaranga.
Drilling at Never Never has led to the discovery of 721 koz at an average grade of 5.85 g/t gold. Driven by the potential for further resource upgrade, Spartan secured $50 million in funding in February 2023 to support its aggressive exploration program at Never Never. This program, which is intended to last 18 months, is targeting: more than 300 koz reserve at a grade exceeding 4.0 g/t gold; more than 600 koz resource at a grade exceeding 5.0 g/t gold; and the development of a 5-year mine plan capable of generating 130 to 150 koz of gold per annum.
The Dalgaranga property is in proximity to multiple gold-producing projects including Ramelius Resources’ Mt Magnet Project, Musgrave Cue Project, and Westgold Resources’ Tuckabianna gold mill. Historically, Mt Magnet has produced over 6 million ounces since discovery in 1891, which increases confidence in the resource potential of Dalgaranga.
In parallel with the company’s planned exploration program at Never Never, Spartan is progressing with permitting and evaluation of its 244-koz Yalgoo Gold Project, which is expected to provide an important source of ore feed to supplement the high-grade ore from Never Never. In addition, the company owns the 537-koz Glenburgh and Mt Egerton Gold Project in the Gascoyne region, which has the potential to become a second production hub for Spartan Resources.
Spartan Resources’ flagship Dalgaranga Gold Project is located 475 kilometres northeast of Perth and approximately 65 kilometres northwest of Mt Magnet in Western Australia. The Dalgaranga Project includes a fully developed operation comprising a fully established gold mine, a 2.5 Mtpa carbon-in-leach processing facility, modern camp accommodation, and an airstrip.
The Dalgaranga mine produced 71,153 oz in FY 2022 before being placed on care and maintenance in November 2022 to facilitate the implementation of a new strategic and restructuring plan. The new plan is focused on the high-grade Never Never gold deposit discovered in 2022, less than 1 kilometre from the existing 2.5 Mtpa processing facility.
Never Never Gold Deposit is located within the Dalgaranga property immediately to the north of Gilbey’s open pit and within 1 kilometre of the process plant. Never Never is much higher grade than any of the previously defined ore bodies at Dalgaranga and appears to be far more structural, fold and/or shear-hosted as opposed to the more stratigraphic/shale-associated historically defined Gilbey’s series of gold deposits.
The strategy to focus on high-grade Never Never has thus far paid off with drilling defining a mineral resource of 721 koz gold contained within 3.83 Mt at 5.85 g/t. The Never Never gold resource when added to the Dalgaranga Gold project mineral resources brings the total resource to 16.7 Mt at 2.2 g/t gold for 1.18 Moz.
In light of the success of the drilling program, Spartan has expanded its current drill program to 32,000 metres with up to six rigs operating on-site (previously, 25,000 metres with four rigs). The expanded program looks to target extensions of known mineralization, further upgrading the high-grade 721,200 oz mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Never Never Gold Deposit. The company ultimately aims to deliver a new mine plan to feed the 2.5 Mtpa processing plant for at least five years. The target for the five-year mine plan is to deliver gold production of 130 to 150 koz per annum.
Some of the more significant assay results under the current drill program include:
Notably, in October 2023 Spartan announced a new gold discovery, Patient Wolf, located immediately to the north of Never Never which returned a massive 10 metres at 19.84 g/t gold, including a high-grade zone of 4 metres at 40.15 g/t gold. This new site is located 1,600 metres north of Never Never and 1.9 kilometres from the processing plant.
The company will now accelerate planned resource diamond drilling across multiple high-grade targets, including Never Never, Four Pillars, and West Winds along with a dedicated RC rig at the new Patient Wolf prospect. The ultimate aim is to deliver the scheduled resource update for the project in Q4 2023, which will grow Spartan’s high-grade resource inventory within a 2-kilometre radius of the 2.5-Mtpa Dalgaranga process plant.
Spartan is well-funded to support its drilling programme and develop its five-year mine plan, having secured a $50 million funding package in February 2023, which included a $26.3-million equity raising, a $21.3-million investment from highly respected global resources private equity fund Tembo Capital, and a $2.5-million unsecured loan from existing major shareholder, Delphi.
The Yalgoo Gold Project is located 110 kilometres by road from the Dalgaranga Gold Project and comprises two deposits, namely the Melville deposit and the Applecross deposit, which is adjacent to the northern end of the Melville deposit. The Yalgoo Gold Project hosts a mineral resource of 243,600 oz contained within 5.2 Mt at 1.4 g/t gold. Exploration activity at this project has slowed down with the Never Never deposit at Dalgaranga taking priority as the next source of higher-grade ore.
The Glenburgh Gold Project (Glenburgh, spread over an area of 2,000 square kilometres, is located in the southern Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Glenburgh has a JORC 2012 mineral resource estimate of 16.3 Mt at 1.0 g/t for 510,100 ounces of gold.
Mt Egerton Gold Project is spread over an area of 200 square kilometres and is located in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Two known deposits exist at Mt Egerton – Hibernian and Gaffney’s Find – both located within granted mining leases. Mt Egerton hosts a current resource of 27,000 oz of contained gold, with strong growth potential.
Simon Lawson is a professional geoscientist with more than 16 years of operational experience spanning multiple commodities and jurisdictions. He was one of the founders of Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) and under his leadership transformed the company from a small Western Australian gold miner into a multi-billion dollar global gold mining heavyweight. He has also worked with Firefly Resources Ltd., Superior Gold (TSXV:VSGD) in various senior leadership roles. Lawson brings considerable operational management and technical experience to the board of Spartan and has set in place a firm strategy to take Spartan forward through consistent production, improved cash flows, commercial dealings, and near-term production-focused resource/reserve growth.
Rowan Johnston is a mining engineer (graduating from the West Australian School of Mines) with significant experience as an executive and non-executive director. He is currently interim non-executive chairman of Wiluna Mining Corporation, non-executive director of Kin Mining NL, and has previously been managing director of Excelsior Gold. Johnston has worked and studied in the mining (primarily gold) industry for 40 years throughout Australia and overseas and has experience working for owners, consultants, and contractors. He has worked through several feasibility studies, start-ups, construction, and production.
Hansjoerg Plaggemars is a seasoned professional with experience in structured debt finance, and equity capital markets including capital increases and decreases, restructurings and insolvencies. He has worked as CFO in various industries including software, retail, prefabricated housing and e-commerce. Since 2017, he has set-up his own consultancy firm, Value Consult. Plaggermars currently sits on a number of boards as a non-executive director or supervisory member. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Bamberg.
David Coyne has over 30 years of experience in the mining, engineering and construction industries, both within Australia and internationally. Prior to joining Spartan, Coyne held senior executive positions with Australia-listed companies Macmahon Holdings, VDM Group, Peninsula Energy, and with unlisted global manganese miner Consolidated Minerals. He has previously served on the boards of listed companies such as Peninsula Energy and BC Iron.
John Hodder is a geologist by background with a B.Sc. in geological sciences and a B.Com. in finance and commerce from the University of Queensland. He also has a master’s in finance from London Business School. He has served as a director of a number of junior mining companies and has significant experience of operating and investing in Africa. He also worked at Suncorp and Solaris as a fund manager focusing on the resource sector managing an index-linked natural resource portfolio of A$1.25 billion.
Tejal Magan is a chartered accountant with over 10 years of experience in the mining, oil and gas, and construction industries, within Australian and internationally listed companies. She has been at Spartan Resources since December 2018. Previously, she worked with Austal, a shipbuilding company, where she held the role of financial controller for the Australian business unit. Before joining Austal, she worked at Cliffs Natural Resources, a global mining company, where she held various roles including accounting and reporting controller, corporate controller, and senior corporate accountant.
Craig Jones is a qualified mining engineer with more than 28 years’ experience in West Australian underground hard-rock mining operations, primarily in operational leadership roles. Prior to joining Spartan, he was the chief executive officer of Poseidon Nickel and previously the chief operating officer for Bellevue Gold, where he played an instrumental role in establishing the restart of the historical operation, leading the feasibility study and forming part of the team that delivered financing of the project. An inclusive and hands on leader, Jones is renowned for building engaged and driven work cultures and for his dedication to working collaboratively across diverse stakeholder groups.
This article was written in collaboration with Couloir Capital Ltd.
All amounts in US dollars
Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD)(TSX:ABX) Despite the operational challenges presented by the recent Mulitaka landslide, Porgera Gold Mine has met or exceeded its targets since resuming mining in December last year, with gold production for the first half of the year above guidance and all-in sustaining costs trending lower.
Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow, who is in the country to review New Porgera Limited's (NPL) second quarter results, said keeping Porgera open in the wake of the landslide allowed for a swift response by the mine to the collective recovery effort while sustaining the mine's contribution to the provincial and national economies.
"Reacting rapidly to the disaster, our teams put into operation an air bridge and a temporary pipe across the slip to be able to supply fuel and essential goods not only to the mine but to local businesses serving the tens of thousands of residents of the Porgera valley. The cooperation of the Mulitaka community is essential to keeping these lifelines open until the permanent bypass road can be completed," Bristow said, expressing his deepest sympathies to the families and friends of victims of the landslide and reaffirming NPL's commitment to impacted communities.
"Porgera employees have been on the ground in Mulitaka daily and are embedded at the Enga Provincial Government's disaster relief center in Wabag to assist with all aspects of the rehabilitation effort. These include the delivery of essential goods and fuel while contributing geotechnical expertise to assist with ground stabilization and the design of the new bypass road. Barrick and JV-partner Zijin also jointly contributed $1 million towards relief efforts, approximately half of which has already been deployed."
During his visit, Bristow met with Prime Minister James Marape, Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas and Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka to exchange views on the Mulitaka recovery, the New Porgera Community Development Agreement (CDA) negotiations, and other issues of common interest. It was agreed that the CDA must be consistent with the New Porgera project agreements and ensure that fair and equitable benefits reach all eligible landowners and the wider Porgeran community, as well as provincial and national stakeholders.
"NPL stands ready to pay benefits directly to landowner households, without going through middlemen, once the CDA is executed. The mine would make additional infrastructure contributions to the project footprint area through effective use of the tax credit scheme in collaboration with local and provincial authorities," Bristow said.
NPL currently employs 2,500 people, of whom 57% are from Porgera and Enga, 40% from the rest of Papua New Guinea and 3% expatriates. First gold, following the resumption of operations at the mine, was poured in January, electricity from the Hides power plant in Hela Province was restored in April and a throughput performance test agreed to with Papua New Guinea was achieved in June, four months ahead of schedule.
Bristow singled out the lack of law and order as the greatest threat to the continued operation and profitability of the mine, requiring the active support of all stakeholders to ensure that Porgera could continue to deliver benefits in line with its potential as a Tier One 1 asset.
Enquiries:
Investor and Media Relations
Kathy du Plessis
+44 20 7557 7738
Email: barrick@dpapr.com
Website: www.barrick.com
Endnote
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
Certain information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release, including any information as to our strategy, projects, plans, or future financial or operating performance, constitutes "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words "remain", "on track", "continue", "guidance", "target", "potential", "could", "will", and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to: Barrick's partnership with Papua New Guinea; forecasted production from the Porgera mine; the potential for Porgera to achieve Tier One status; the sharing of projected economic benefits from Porgera with Papua New Guinea stakeholders under the Community Development Agreement; and Barrick's future plans, community investments and overall strategy in Papua New Guinea.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions including material estimates and assumptions related to the factors set forth below that, while considered reasonable by the Company as at the date of this press release in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, copper, or certain other commodities (such as diesel fuel, natural gas, and electricity); the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; changes in mineral production performance, exploitation, and exploration successes; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and/ or changes in the administration of laws, policies and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in Papua New Guinea and other jurisdictions in which the Company or its affiliates do or may carry on business in the future; risks related to disruption of supply routes which may cause delays in construction and mining activities, including disruptions in the supply of key mining inputs due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and conflicts in the Middle East; risk of loss due to acts of war, terrorism, sabotage and civil disturbances; risks associated with new diseases, epidemics and pandemics, including the effects and potential effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic; litigation and legal and administrative proceedings; employee relations including loss of key employees; increased costs and physical and transition risks related to climate change, including extreme weather events, resource shortages, emerging policies and increased regulations related to greenhouse gas emission levels, energy efficiency and reporting of risks; and availability and increased costs associated with mining inputs and labor. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion, copper cathode or gold or copper concentrate losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks).
Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Specific reference is made to the most recent Form 40-F/Annual Information Form on file with the SEC and Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors underlying forward-looking statements and the risks that may affect Barrick's ability to achieve the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
Barrick disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia
HIGHLIGHTS
Commenting on the Group MRE upgrade, Managing Director and CEO Mr Grant Haywood said:
“It is very pleasing to have the Burbanks and Phillips Find assets under single ownership with Horizon’s complementary and extensive project base. Together this provides 1.8 million ounce gold portfolio, which is a great platform to implement our near term strategy of cashflow from operations and further growth into the medium and long term”.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Horizon Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
