VTX moves Reward gold mine closer to production with $3.8m placement

Vertex has raised $3.8m via a placement
Funds will be used for advancing the Reward gold mine
The placement will be conducted in two tranches

Special report: Vertex Minerals has secured $3.8m in funding via a placement to institutional and sophisticated investors to bring the Reward gold mine into production.

Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX) owns 24km of contiguous tenements along the Hill End gold system in the famous Lachlan Fold Belt, just 60km from Australia’s largest gold mine, Cadia.

This is a historical mining hub, with the Reward gold mine situated beneath the famous Hawkins Hill mine which produced 435,000oz at 309g/t.

Boasting resources of 419,000t grading 16.72g/t – or 225,200oz of contained gold – with a higher confidence indicated resource of 141,000t at 15.54g/t, or 70,500oz of contained gold, Reward is considered one of Australia’s highest-grade gold deposits.

Two-tranche placement

Firm commitments have been received for $3.77M at an issue price of $0.08 per share from institutional/sophisticated investors.

The placement will be conducted in two tranches, the first comprising 11,277,333 shares with the second tranche being subject to shareholder approval.

All options will also be subject to shareholder approval.

VTX says the issue price represents a 5% discount to the last traded price and 5-day VWAP.

Increased grade during ore sorting

“With this funding secured, we will continue to progress our reward Gold Mine to production,” VTX executive chairman Roger Jackson says.

VTX believes Reward is well placed for a simple start-up, with the existing gravity processing plant located adjacent to the underground mine access point.

The company recently completed an ore sorting test program with TOMRA to assess the potential of upgrading the ore prior to further processing through the Hill End gravity gold mill.

Low grade stockpiles have shown an excellent response to ore sorting with 79% mass reduction achieved with a corresponding gold recovery of 94%.

Vertex believes the ore sorting technology can positively impact the sustainability and profitability of its operations at Reward by processing high-grade ore post sorting, resulting in reduced energy and water consumption, leading to lower operating costs and a reduced carbon footprint.

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.