Australian mining company Ora Banda Mining Ltd will construct and develop the Sand King gold mine at Daveyhurst in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. The board of directors announced Thursday it had approved the underground mine.
The mine will be the Australian Securities Exchange-listed company's second development in less than two years. According to plans, by June 2025, production at Sand King should reach a sustainable level of 60,000 ounces per year.
Ora Banda will fund A$39 million ($26.3 million) capital cost of Sand King from the operating Riverina gold mine.
Consolidating production from the two mines would be a major step forward from being a single-mine producer, the company said, as it aims to achieve projected production of 150,000 ounces per year in fiscal 2026 and reduce all-in sustaining costs to below A$1,890 ($1,276.9) per ounce in 2026.
“Our plan firmly places us on the pathway to becoming a mid-tier gold producer, and the most exciting part is that we are only just getting started on unlocking this highly prospective and under-explored tenement package,” managing director Luke Creagh said.
The company has budgeted A$25 million ($16.9 million) for exploration in 2025 and A$40 million ($27 million) for exploration in 2026 to expand resources at Riverina and Sand King.
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
