Tomingley Gold Operations (Tomingley)
- Gold production of 17,319oz was on forecast for the quarter, with site operating cash costs at A$1,565/oz and AISC of A$1,867/oz. Site operating cash flow was A$19.2m for the quarter.
- Gold production for the FY24 was 57,217oz, with site operating cash costs of A$1,541 and AISC of A$2,137. Site operating cash flow was A$64.8m for FY24.
- Stope mining of ore at Roswell commenced during the quarter.
- Gold sales for the quarter of 16,610oz for revenue of A$53.5m at an average price of A$3,219/oz.
- FY2025 guidance for Tomingley is 70,000oz to 80,000oz production at an AISC of A$2,400/oz to $2,600/oz. The higher cost reflects a one-off increase in decline development that is accounted as sustaining capital and therefore, included in the AISC.
- The Tomingley five-year plan (24 June 2024) shows total planned production from FY25-FY29 of 455,000oz to 505,000oz at an AISC of A$1,900/oz to $2,100/oz.
Tomingley Gold Extension Project (TGEP)
- Structural works for the paste plant are largely complete with work commencing on the electrical installation. The paste plant is expected to be commissioned in Q4 2024.
- Structural work at the process plant flotation and fine grinding circuit is nearing completion. The circuit is expected to be commissioned in Q4 2024.
- The surface internal access road and pipeline corridor from Caloma Two to Roswell is well underway and expected to be completed in the current quarter.
- The first of the new CAT 2900XE underground loaders has arrived on site. The remaining three units are expected to be delivered in the current quarter.
Boda-Kaiser
The scoping study for the Boda-Kaiser Project was released post-quarter end (10 July 2024). The study showed that a 20 million tonnes per annum processing scenario:
- Processes 323 million tonnes of ore at 0.26g/t gold and 0.15% copper over 17 years.
- Mines 319 million tonnes from open cut mining and 4 million tonnes from underground mining. 85% of the ore mined comes from Indicated Resource and 15% from Inferred.
- Produces an average 35,600 tonnes of copper and 159,300 ounces of gold per annum for the first five years of operation.
- Costs were estimated at A$630 per gold ounce (with copper by-product credit) over the 17-year life (2024 dollars).
- Undiscounted free cash flow of A$5.7 billion would be generated over the 17-year life (using an average price of A$15,000/t for Cu and A$3,500/oz for gold).
- A forecast capital cost of A$1,783 million with an additional A$223 million of development and sustaining capital over the 17-year life.
- An estimated Net Present Value (NPV 7%, pre-tax) of A$1.8 billion, estimated 24% Internal Rate of Return (IRR, pre-tax), with a Pre-Tax NPV to Start-up Capital ratio of 1.0.
Exploration
- Regional exploration drilling of nine RC and one diamond core drill holes was completed during the quarter at the Driell Creek prospect, located northwest of Boda-Kaiser. All drilling identified porphyry style alteration and mineralisation significant results included:
- DRC004 130m grading 0.25g/t Au, 0.11% Cu from 174m to end of hole
- DRC010 47.7m grading 0.12g/t Au, 0.15% Cu from 279.3m
incl 7m grading 0.34g/t Au, 0.26% Cu from 320m - DRC002 9m grading 0.61g/t Au from 255m (gold only zone)
- DRC007 30m grading 0.13g/t Au, 0.10% Cu from 78m
and 6m grading 0.26g/t Au, 0.15% Cu from 96m
Corporate
- Cash, bullion, and listed investments position totalled A$54.5m including the undrawn portion of the $60m project finance facility. Total liquidity was $71.6m at the end of the March quarter.
- Significant investments of $31.7 million were made during the quarter in the Tomingley expansion – details are discussed further in the Corporate section of the report.
- Note that listed investments assume no value for shares in Calidus Resources Ltd (ASX:CAI) as receivers and administrators were appointed for Calidus on 28 June 2024. This change in value for CAI shares will also be reflected in Alkane’s full year FY2024 audited financial results.
Alkane Managing Director Nic Earner said: “This has been a quarter of both strong production performance and a focus on executing our growth projects.
“We are producing stope ore from our new mining area, the underground at Roswell. Our expansion capital work continues with the Paste Plant and Processing upgrades, which are on track for commissioning later in the year. We’ve released the five-year plan for Tomingley, which shows our pathway to producing over 100,000oz per year.
“Our recently released scoping study for Boda-Kaiser shows that at current copper and gold prices a large mine and processing facility can be built with strong economic returns. Over the next year, our focus at Boda-Kaiser will be regional exploration, environmental studies, increasing our understanding of mining options and discussions with potential strategic partners.
“We look forward to continuing to deliver on these plans.”