ASX-listed Horizon Minerals is aspiring to join the ranks of “mid-tier gold producers” via its core gold ground scattered around Kalgoorlie’s super pit with trial mining at its flagship Boorara gold mine already turning the initial ore mined into cold hard cash. Just last month, Horizon banked a rapid-fire $4.89 million in revenue from a second batch of dirt from its low-grade open pit mine at Boorara.
The Perth-based company said it is now sitting on a tad over $22m in cash and investments with more than one million ounces of contained gold resources booked to push on toward its target of continuous gold production in calendar year 2022.
Whilst the gaggle of West Perth gold hopefuls have been polishing up their brogues en route to Kalgoorlie for next week’s Diggers and Dealers talkfest, Horizon Minerals has stayed focussed on topping up its saddlebags with cash from a trial dig at its low-grade Boorara gold mine, just 10kms east of Kalgoorlie’s town centre.
Horizon jumped out of the gate early this year to capture the strong Australian dollar run in the gold price by choosing to toll-treat some initial parcels of dirt from Boorara. It also quickly found its stride drilling up a storm around its ground in the hope of turning some of its grab bag of deposits, all of which lie within a 75km radius of Kalgoorlie, into producing mines.
The company said this week that it was about halfway through its trial mining operation at Boorara with a third contract dig of higher-grade ore set to come from its aptly named Crown Jewel pit early next month.
Horizon will likely have a focus on an initial 4 to 5-year mine life feeding its Teal Camp, Binduli and Rosehill deposits into a stand-alone mill at Boorara when its much-anticipated DFS hits the streets in the first half of next year.
Earlier this year, Horizon rationalised its portfolio to focus on Kalgoorlie gold by chopping the “non-core” Nanadie Well copper project in WA’s Murchison region off its project list. Horizon sold the Nanadie Well project about 75km south-east of Meekatharra to Cyprium Metals for a predominantly scrip-based transaction worth approximately $1.5 million.
Whilst the John Price-led Horizon has a solid focus on its Kalgoorlie gold deposits, it also has a number of other royalty and partnership arrangements in place around Australia aiming to retain a level of diversity in its mineral portfolio.
Horizon said it retains exposure to the Menzies gold belt in WA through a 13 per cent interest in fellow ASX-listed gold hopeful, Kingwest Resources, with $1.625m in cash plus 10 million shares due in March next year.
It also has under its feet a fully-owned silver and zinc resource at its Nimbus silver project, east of WA’s goldfields, with a total mineral resource of 12Mt grading 52 g/t for 20Moz of contained silver.
Elsewhere in Australia, the company’s other mineral assets include a 25 per cent interest in the Richmond Vanadium project, located in North Queensland, where drilling is underway to deliver a PFS for the 1.8 billion tonne deposit containing 6.65Mt of vanadium oxide and 460kt of Molybdenum, according to Horizon.
The punters who have backed Horizon are probably feeling a little more emboldened today with the company striding along the Goldfields Highway at a rapid clip galloping towards the finish line with the goal to become a long-term gold producer.
Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
