The board of directors of Australia’s Horizon Minerals made a final investment decision to proceed with gold production at the Boorara project in Western Australia. Preparatory work is to commence shortly, followed by production ramp-up at the open pit.
The project comprises three deposits, namely Regal in the north, Royal in the south and Crown Jewel in the centre. The Boorara phase 1 project has an estimated proven and probable gold reserve of 159,000 tonnes grading 1.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au).
Small-scale open pit trial mining was completed in 2016. The trial pit was excavated to a depth of 20 m and produced 1,550 ounces of gold grading 1.73 g/t gold and a recovery rate of 91.5%. This ore was processed at the Greenfields plant, with an additional 13,095 t of 0.68 g/t stockpiled gold ore. In 2020, 267,000 t of 1.23 g/t ore was mined from three open pits, which was further processed at the Lakewood plant.
Horizon took notice of this experience and now expects the project to be significantly de-risked from a mining perspective with the existing site infrastructure. The latest Boorara Mineral Resource estimate is 10.5 million t of 1.27 g/t gold ore, representing 428,000 oz.
Horizon has already secured mining and haulage services contracts with Hampton Transport Services, who will jointly process the ore at the Paddington plant with Norton Gold Fields. The Paddington plant is located 35km north of Kalgoorlie and remains the central hub for Norton’s gold processing operations in the Goldfields region. Horizon will therefore provide management oversight and technical support services, while the contractor will execute the works.
First gold production is expected in October, after which the mine will be able to generate cash flow of A$30 million at a gold price of A$3,600 per ounce over the life of the mine. Mining is expected to be in operation for 14 months, with processing expected to take place over 19 months.
Horizon managing director and CEO Grant Haywood said the restart of mining at Boorara will make the company the newest gold producer in Australia. The company plans to also develop other projects and establish itself as a long-term, sustainable gold producer.
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
