Horizon Minerals is on a tear after toll treating the first 37,000t of ore from its Phillips Find joint venture in the Western Australian Goldfields and 50,604t from its Boorara mine to bank a cool $12.9 million.
The company has made impressive progress transforming its projects, just 15 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie, into full-scale mining and processing operations. With gold prices soaring to US$3,122 (A$5000) per ounce, its timing could not be better.
Horizon has teamed up with mining specialists BML Ventures under a joint venture agreement to develop and mine two open pits at Phillips Find. Under the agreement, BML is covering all the project costs upfront.
The mining contractor is also managing all the project’s operational, technical and maintenance aspects to streamline a cost-efficient mining campaign under Horizon’s watchful eye.
The first ore hauled from Phillips Find was processed at FMR Investment’s Greenfields Mill and consisted of 37,624 dry tonnes grading 1.46 grams per tonne (g/t) gold to produce 1675.3 ounces at 94.8 per cent recoveries.
At an average price of $4,728 per ounce, the joint venture banked $7.9M from the deposit.
Horizon is also hitting its stride at Boorara. The first ore parcel of 50,604t grading 0.79g/t was processed through Norton Gold Fields’ Paddington Mill to yield 1163 ounces of gold for $4.95M in cash.
A second parcel is now being pushed through the mill with a third consignment en route and a fourth being prepped for haulage. High-grade stockpiles are growing onsite, with more than 100,000t now stacked and ready for processing.
Horizon Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Grant Haywood said: “Following on from our first gold pour for Boorara in January, we have built up significant ore stockpiles, with mining now in steady state operation and in a position for the continuous processing of ore and cashflow generation.”
Back at Phillips Find, the joint venture is lining up another 80,000t to be treated at FMR’s Three Mile Hill plant in the next quarter, to be followed by an additional 80,000t to complete a 200,000t toll treatment agreement with FMR.
To keep the momentum going, Horizon has locked in a new milling deal to process a further 70,000t from the mine at the Three Mile Hill plant in September/October.
The new toll arrangement also frees up 80,000t of milling capacity at the Greenfields Mill, allowing for lower grade material from Boorara to be processed to bank further cashflows while the gold price remains high.
A recent drilling program has also opened up deeper-than-expected ore zones at Horizon’s Newminster pit, within the Phillips Find grounds. The company pushed out the mining timeline, however, with the higher gold grades and strong gold price it should be able to boost the mine’s overall economics.
Grade control drilling has now firmed up the new mining plan and Horizon’s flexibility in processing locations has given the company more room to manoeuvre.
The next milling campaign kicks off April 9, combining 40,000t each from Boorara and Phillips Find at the Greenfields mill. A similar run is scheduled for June.
Beyond that, processing of the Phillips Find ore will shift to Three Mile Hill for a final 70,000t round, while Boorara keeps feeding the Paddington mill in a continuous cycle
With multiple milling pathways, strong ore grades and the price of the yellow metal now bursting above $5000 per ounce, Horizon is quickly becoming one to watch as it accelerates toward sustained production and a growing war chest.
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By James Pearson
