A restart to the Reward gold mine is in the sights of Vertex Minerals. Pic via Getty Images
Mining
Special Report: Gold developer Vertex Minerals has secured a giant US$10 million gold dore prepayment facility as it prepares to hit restart at Reward, one of Australia’s highest-grade gold mines.
As the price of gold continues to break records, Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX) has been steadily developing its advanced Hill End gold projects in NSW’s highly prospective Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt.
According to Vertex Minerals executive chairman Roger Jackson, the timely AU$15.09m cash injection will help drive development of the Reward high-grade underground gold mine, near Hill End in the central west.
“This funding forms a component of the overall funding with an equity element underway,” Jackson says.
“The project restart economics are very robust, and we have continued to make further improvements to the high-grade Reward Gold Mine during the financing process.
“We are well underway with site works, we have ordered long lead-time items, we have implemented operating and safety systems, staff are being recruited, and the engineering and design is now completed for the final layout of the plant. We are looking forward to restarting gold production in a buoyant gold market.”
According to the updated (end February 2024) PFS for Reward, the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the gold deposit at Hill End totals 419,000 tonnes at 16.72g/t Au for 225,200oz Au.
Reward is now expected to cost $17 million to build and generate $150 million in revenue with all-in sustaining costs of about $1,833/oz.
This will deliver pre-tax NPV of $33.3 million and IRR of 110% with $41 million in free cash flow.
It will produce 49,890oz of gold over the initial two-year mine life.
According to Jackson, the numbers describe a gold mine with rich potential and existing infrastructure – meaning the project is set to kick off.
“The updated PFS already demonstrates the strong projected economics of the Reward gold mine based on the existing Indicated resource, notwithstanding the clear potential for further significant resource upgrades as mining operations get underway, as we have high grade exploration targets sitting alongside and below the mining envelope,” he says.
This article was developed in collaboration with Vertex Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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