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Manuka Resources Limited (“Manuka” or the “Company”) has announced Taranaki VTM Project Delivers Robust Pre-Feasibility Study.
Highlights
- Updated Pre-Feasibility Study1 (“PFS”) released for the New Zealand-based Taranaki VTM Project (“the Project”) owned by Manuka Resources Limited (“MKR”, the “Company”) subsidiary, Trans-Tasman Resources Limited (“TTR”).
- Initial 20-year Production Target underpinned by 75% Indicated Resources and 25% Inferred Resources located on granted Mining Permit MP55581.
- Project to deliver a significant contribution to local development in the Taranaki region of New Zealand and assist the NZ government in delivering against its critical minerals policy objectives.
- The Project was included in Schedule 2 (projects to be directly referred to an Expert Panel) of the recently passed New Zealand Fast Track Approvals Act 20242.
- Following completion of the current approval process, the Company intends to progress to a Bankable Feasibility Study (“BFS”) consisting of detailed vessel engineering and the development of procurement and funding strategies.
- The Company will shortly submit its approval application and commence the New Zealand Fast Track approvals process.
MKR Director and TTR Executive Charman Alan Eggers commented:
"The Taranaki VTM Project is an exciting, financially robust and potentially company- making opportunity that provides Manuka shareholders with strategic exposure to critical minerals. The outstanding PFS results released today build upon a substantial body of technical and environmental work completed over the past 10 years.
The Project is one of national significance for New Zealand whose stated objective is to double mineral export earnings from NZ$1.5B to NZ$3B per annum over the next decade. The Taranaki VTM Project is forecast to generate NZ$854M revenue per annum representing over 50% of the targeted increase.
Importantly, the Project will deliver substantial benefits to the Taranaki and Whanganui regions with over 300 new full-time local jobs and NZ$238M per annum expenditure injected into the local economy.
With the updated PFS complete, we are now looking forward to progressing the Project through the New Zealand Fast-Track approvals process and turning our attention to workstreams related to Project delivery and execution”
Project Overview
The Taranaki VTM Project (“the Project”) is located offshore along the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand in the South Taranaki Bight within water depths of between 20m to 50m and comprises granted mining permit MMP55581 and granted exploration permit MEP54068 covering a large world-class Resource of vanadium and titanium bearing iron sands located on the seabed floor (Figure 1, Table 1).
Both vanadium and titanium have recently been named on New Zealand’s Critical Minerals List.
The Project PFS contemplates the mining of iron sands from the shallow seabed floor within MP55581 via an underwater seabed crawler at a rate of 50Mtpa. The crawler will pump sediment as seawater slurry to a surface vessel (Integrated Mining Vessel, “IMV”) (Figure 2) where the sand will undergo beneficiation into a saleable vanadiferous titanomagnetite (“VTM”) concentrate with an iron grade of ~57% Fe, 0.50% V2O5 and titanium of 8.4% TiO2.
The Project is scheduled to produce VTM concentrate at a rate of 4.9Mtpa. The balance of the mined sand (~45Mtpa) will be returned continuously to the seabed floor behind the surface vessel where it will be restored to its natural state within two years.
Figure 1: Location of the VTM Project with respect to Mineral Resource outline, granted Mining Permit MMP55581 (within New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone) and Exploration Permit MEP54068 (within New Zealand Territorial Waters).
Figure 2: The proposed Integrated Mining Vessel and associated subsurface seabed crawler and simultaneous re-deposition of post processed sands.
Table 1: VTM Project Mineral Resource Estimate (March 2023)See ASX Announcement 1 March 2023. All Resources are reported at a 3.5% DTR cut-off except for the Tasman Block which is reported at a 7.5% Fe2O3 Cut-Off
Production Overview
The iron sands will be mined using two seabed crawlers (Figure 3), one operating and one standby. Sand extraction (50Mtpa) will occur in lanes, on average 5m deep with the crawler advancing at a rate of 0.04km/h and pumping 8,000 tph of sand as a seawater slurry to the IMV.
The ROM sand will be screened, magnetically separated and ground before final magnetic separation to produce a clean concentrate. All processing will be done wet using seawater throughout the process. The final concentrate will be dewatered to ~10% moisture and stored temporarily on the IMV before being slurried with fresh water from a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant.
The slurry will be pumped to a floating storage and offloading vessel (“FSO”) where it will be dewatered and stored in the FSO holds. Once fully loaded, the FSO sails to a sheltered area (if required by prevailing weather conditions) where it offloads the cargo to an ore carrier, typically a Capesize vessel for shipment to market.
Tailings will be disposed of in real-time via a fall pipe extending forward off the port side of the IMV such that the tailings are deposited as far as possible from the face of mine. The tailings disposal fall pipe will be of a similar design to a trailing suction hopper dredge drag arm. The tailings will first be dewatered via hydro cyclones with the wastewater disposed of separately along the tailings fall pipe.
Operations will be 24 hours a day, 7 days per week with an estimated 28% downtime due to inclement weather conditions, servicing and maintenance.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Manuka Resources Limited, 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.
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Manuka Resources
Investor Insight
Manuka Resources’ unique value proposition is focused on its three fully licenced projects, which include two precious metals assets in one of Australia’s most prolific regions for base and precious metals, and a company-making iron sands (vanadium and titanium co-products) project in New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Taranaki bight. Manuka Resources is well-placed to deliver significant shareholder value, driven by a phased strategy that includes a clear pathway to near-term precious metals production.
Strategy Overview
Manuka Resources (ASX:MKR) is focused on bringing its precious metals assets in the Cobar Basin into production, as well as progressing its New Zealand domiciled Taranaki VTM iron sands project.
The company previously revealed a phased strategy focused on delivering maximum value to its shareholders. The first phase focused on bringing back the Mt Boppy gold mine into production and it released an optimised production plan for the mine restart. At the time, the company believed silver production would follow gold but noted it was flexible in this regard. In any event and simultaneous to this, will be the ongoing development of the Taranaki vanadium titano-magnetite (VTM) project.
The Cobar Basin located in the central-west of New South Wales, is one of the richest mining provinces in Australia, home to some of Australia’s largest mining companies and explorers.
The Mt Boppy gold mine was historically one of the richest in NSW, Australia and produced ~500,000 oz gold at an average grade of 15 grams per ton (g/t) gold. Accordingly, the company is very excited about its exploration potential.
Drone image looking South showing the main components of the Rock Dump and tailing resources in relation to the Mt. Boppy open pit.
The initial five-year mine plan is largely focused on the screening and processing of gold-bearing waste material above ground on the Mt Boppy mine site. The company had been processing these wastes from June 2023 to December 2023 at its Wonawinta plant and now will look to optimize the process.
The Wonawinta silver project will be the largest primary silver producer in Australia and expected to be back in silver production within 12 months. Manuka has released a maiden ore reserve (under its ownership) of 4.8Mt1 at 53.8g/t silver containing 8.4Moz of silver comprising proven ore reserves of 0.8Mt at 50.8g/t silver; and probable ore reserves of 4.1Mt at 54.3g/t silver. Ore Reserve is based solely on shallow (<40m deep) oxide material.
The Wonawinta 100tph Ball Mill
The gold and silver market appears to be in an upward trend, with prices for both precious metals hitting their all-time highs recently, in Australian dollar terms for silver, which bodes very positively for MKR.
Company Highlights
- Manuka Resources is an ASX-listed mining company focused on producing gold and silver from its two 100 percent owned fully permitted projects (one gold and one silver) in the Cobar Basin in New South Wales, Australia.
- In addition, MKR’s wholly owned subsidiary Trans-Tasman Resources Limited (“TTR”) is the owner of the Taranaki VTM (vanadiferous titanomagnetite) iron sands project, located in the New Zealand EEZ, off the south-west coast of the north island.
- Manuka released the details of the Taranaki VTM project’s pre-feasibility study (PFS) on 26 March 2025, which highlights the extremely robust economics of the project with an NPV10 of US$1.2B and IRR 39 percent
- TTR will also be lodging its application under New Zealand’s Fast Track Approvals Act for the Taranaki VTM project imminently. (The project was included in Schedule 2 of the Act). Successful conclusion of review under the Fast Track pathway will result in final regulatory approvals (marine discharge consent) being granted, completing the full suite of consents to operate the project for 20 years.
- The Company’s primary focus for its precious metals assets is on bringing both the fully permitted Wonawinta silver project and the Mt Boppy gold mine back into production during 2025. The Wonawinta processing plant (primarily constructed for silver production in 2012 with production capacity of 850,000-1 million tpa) has been recently used for both gold and silver processing and is on active care and maintenance for rapid restart..
- The Wonawinta silver project was previously the largest primary producer of silver in Australia, and Manuka expects this to again be the case once production restarts.
- While the substantially higher gold prices have been securing headlines over the past six months, it is worth noting that the silver price is also trading at an all time high which makes restarting the project very attractive (the all time high for silver is against the Australian dollar, currently silver is around AU$54/oz silver).
- Manuka released its maiden silver reserve in October 2024 making it the only production ready silver reserve on a project based in Australia.
- Elevated gold and silver prices should materially benefit Manuka Resources, resulting in strong profitability and cash flows once its projects move into production.
Key Projects
Mt Boppy Gold Project
The Mt Boppy gold project comprises three mining leases, four gold leases and one exploration license, spanning an area of more than 210 sq km in the prolific Cobar Basin in New South Wales, Australia. The project was acquired by Manuka in 2019 and has a current mineral resource of 4.3 Mt at 1.19 g/t gold. This includes a combination of oxidized and transitional/fresh mineralization in the ground, as well as mineralized rock dumps and tailings.
Historically, Manuka Resources has processed its stockpiles and gold mineralized waste products through its Wonawinta processing plant. However, inefficiencies associated with trucking and processing ore at the distant Wonawinta plant has led the company to revise its strategy. It is now looking to construct a processing plant at Mt Boppy so that ore from the mine can be processed on-site. Mt Boppy has excellent infrastructure including a 48-person mine camp and is fully permitted for the proposed processing plant and on-site production.
The updated mineral resource comprises 4.28 Mt at 1.19 g/t gold for 163 koz of contained gold, of which 82 percent is in the measured and indicated categories.
An on-site plant will offer significant cost savings and improve the project economics.
Manuka Resources anticipates Mt Boppy to deliver total EBITDA of >AU$90 million and cash flow of >AU$80 million over a five-year mine life.
Wonawinta Silver Mine Project
The Wonawinta plant
The Wonawinta project is fully permitted with all the necessary infrastructure, including an 850,000 to 1 million tpa processing plant. The plant has been used for processing ore from Mt Boppy. The Wonawinta silver mine is currently under care and maintenance. The company is considering the possibility of resuming operations at Wonawinta, leveraging the improved silver price environment. Manuka has released a maiden ore reserve (under its ownership):
- Ore Reserve of 4.8 Mt at 53.8 g/t silver containing 8.4 Moz of silver comprising:
- Proved Ore Reserves of 0.8 Mt at 50.8 g/t silver; and
- Probable Ore Reserves of 4.1 Mt at 54.3 g/t Ag.
The maiden silver ore reserve and the preparation of an implementation plan for Wonawinta support the potential restart of silver mining and processing operations in the near
future. The company is reviewing its silver restart plans in light of the current price increases and expects to announce a decision before the end of May 2025.
Taranaki VTM Project
The Taranaki VTM project is located within New Zealand's exclusive economic zone, approximately 22 to 36 kilometres offshore, outside the 12 nautical mile boundary from the coastline. The project boasts a JORC resource of 3.2 billion tons at 10.17 percent iron oxide, 1.03 percent titanium dioxide and 0.05 percent vanadium oxide. It holds a mining license allowing initial extraction of 50 million tons annually, resulting in 5 million tons of VTM concentrate per year for 20 years (concentrate grade of 56 to 57 percent iron, 8.5 percent titanium dioxide and 0.5 percent vanadium pentoxide). At this extraction rate, the JORC resource provides approximately 60 years of potential mining inventory.
The project was included in the New Zealand government's Schedule 2 of the Fast Track Approvals Act 2024. The next step for Manuka was to complete pre-feasibility study (“PFS”) on the project. This was released to the market on 26 March 2025 and presents an extremely robust economic outlook for the project as can be seen below.
Management Team
Dennis Karp – Executive Chairman
Dennis Karp is a former commodities trader with nearly four decades of corporate experience. He started his career in 1983 and worked in HSBC until 1997 before moving to Tennant, one of Australia’s largest physical commodities trading companies with operations in Asia and Europe. He was a principal shareholder of Tennant Metals until 2010 and a managing director until December 2014. He founded ResCap in December 2014. Since then, he has participated in diverse resource projects and investment opportunities across base metals and bulk commodities. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Cape Town.
Alan Eggers – Executive Director
Alan Eggers has over 40 years of experience in the mining sector. He is a geologist and was the founder of Summit Resources, which became an ASX top 200 company and was acquired by Paladin Energy in 2007 for AU$1.2 billion. Throughout his career, he has held director positions at numerous companies. He holds a Bachelor of Science, Honours, and Master of Science degrees from Victoria University of Wellington. He is recognized as a fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and holds memberships in AusIMM and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.
John Seton – Non-executive Director
John Seton is a lawyer with extensive experience in the mineral resources sector. He has served as director in several ASX and NZX listed companies. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from Victoria University, Wellington, and a Master of Law (Honours) from the University of Auckland and is a chartered fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
Haydn Lynch – Chief Operating Officer
Haydn Lynch has over 25 years of experience in M&A, capital markets and private equity. He has been involved in executing several domestic and cross-border transactions in various sectors including metals and mining, and industrials. He has held leadership roles in global investment banks, including Bankers Trust Australia, Investec Bank, RBC Capital Markets and Southern Cross Equities. He has undergraduate degrees in mechanical engineering and economics from the University of Queensland and a Master in Commerce from the University of New South Wales.
Dieter Engelhardt – Chief Metallurgist and General Manager
Dieter Engelhardt has over 30 years of experience in the mining industry including roles as senior metallurgist at Telfer Gold Mine and Northparkes Mines, resident manager at McKinnons Gold Mine, and manager of ore processing at CSA Mine. Engelhardt was employed by Newcrest Mining (now Newmont) in various roles, including as manager of ore processing and principal metallurgist.
Phil Bentley – Chief Geologist
Phil Bentley has over 40 years of experience in the mining industry across New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia, holding senior geological roles as well as senior management and director positions. He has worked as a chief geologist at Randgold Resources and Randgold & Exploration, Global Head of Exploration at Trafigura Mining Services, and Principal Geologist Africa at CSA Global South Africa. He is a Qualified person under NI 43-101 (Canada) and JORC (Australia) and is a Fellow of the South African Geological Society. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Geology at Victoria University of Wellington. He also has a Masters of Science in Economic Geology at Victoria University of Wellington and a Master’s of Science in Mineral Exploration from Rhodes University, Grahamstown South Africa.
Near-term production from both its silver and gold projects located in the Cobar Basin, Central West, New South Wales
Navigating Uncertainty: How Trump's Tariffs Are Affecting the Gold Market
Read on to learn how tariffs have affected the gold market and price so far.
How have tariffs affected the gold price?
The gold price has been on the rise since the beginning of the year. After briefly touching the US$3,500 per ounce level in May, it has pulled back and was trading just under US$3,400 as of Tuesday (August 26).
Gold price, January 1 to August 26, 2025.
Chart via TradingEconomics.
Although some of its increase is attributable to the points mentioned above, a significant portion is owed to a lack of information surrounding US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Initially there was no clarity on what or who was being tariffed, or when the levies would ultimately be implemented, and investors started to move into gold for greater stability and portfolio diversification.
Uncertainty about whether gold would be tariffed also had an effect, prompting traders in the US to import physical gold; this created a price differential between New York futures and the London spot price.
Concerns dissipated as the Trump administration began to nail down tariffs, but were reignited once again when US Customs and Border Patrol posted a ruling on July 31 indicating that the 39 percent tariffs against imports from Switzerland would include 1 kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars.
The news caused spot gold to spike more than 3 percent, from US$3,290 to US$3,398, and sent December futures to an all-time high of US$3,549. Meanwhile, traders halted imports of Swiss bars.
After several days of turmoil, Trump said the ruling was incorrect, and the bars would not be included in the tariff measures being applied to other Swiss imports; the gold price then retreated.
How would gold tariffs have impacted the market?
Gold functions as both a commodity and an essential part of the world’s financial system.
One kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars are used to back futures trading, and regular shipments of the metal are needed to settle contracts once they come due. A 39 percent tariff on gold from Switzerland would have been particularly disruptive, as Swiss refineries account for approximately 70 percent of the world’s gold.
According to the UN Comtrade database, in 2024, Switzerland exported more than 1,400 metric tons of unwrought gold worth more than US$106 billion, representing nearly 30 percent of the country’s total exports. Tariffs would have forced US buyers to pay a significant premium for the precious metal versus buyers in London or Shanghai.
Because gold is often used as a store of value in times of uncertainty, any kind of disruption could have had broader implications for investors looking to add stability to their portfolios.
In an email to the Investing News Network (INN), Lauren Saidel-Baker, CFA, an economist with ITR Economics, explained that gold stands out as a unique investment mechanism:
“There are psychological nuances to gold, which is commonly viewed as a safe store of value during uncertain times and an inflation hedge. Overall, the tariff would have added another facet to the already elevated policy uncertainty."
If the tariffs had remained in place, the US gold price would have had to rise to around US$4,700 per ounce to cover levies, while international prices would have remained closer to the US$3,500 mark.
“Tariffs have already complicated supply chains across industries, and this gold tariff would have been another example of added cost and complexity — but in this case, one with the potential to more directly impact investment activities,” Saidel-Baker went on to explain, emphasizing that US investors would have felt the pinch.
Could gold tariffs happen in the future?
Given Trump's unpredictability, especially when it comes to tariffs, it's possible that gold levies could enter the conversation again. However, by and large experts agree that the matter is closed.
“I think it’s pretty clear at this point that there’s no intention to put tariffs on physical gold imports, and I think that would be very damaging and destructive if they did,” Stefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals, told INN.
Keith Weiner, founder and CEO of Monetary Metals, offered another perspective, saying that although the gold tariff threat is over, the tumult could have long-term effects on the market.
"Once you've put the scare into everybody, you can't just say, 'Oh, sorry, just kidding.' You can't really do that. And so now we've done damage, and we'll see what happens to that spread over time. We'll see how users of the futures market adapt. There are other markets in the world that would be competing for," he explained.
"This hedging business, you know, maybe it moves to Singapore, maybe it moves to Dubai, maybe it moves to London, and the US loses not only a little more trust, but also a little bit of volume on what had been the biggest — or what is currently the biggest — futures market," Weiner added to INN.
Market participants will be watching closely for future impacts on the yellow metal.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
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