Ora Banda Mining’s strategy to simplify mining, raise plant efficiency, cut costs and improve cash generation has stabilised performance and delivered a timely boost as the company heads into the new financial year. The June quarterly report has marked the first time the gold producer has delivered a positive cash flow since inception.
The $3.8 million net operating position came on the back of the sale of 15,060 ounces of gold during the period.
Ora Banda’s unaudited sales revenue for the 2022 financial year was $154 million from 60,928 ounces of gold sold, finishing the quarter with more than $27 million in the tin in addition to 22,000 ounces of gold inventory including stockpiles.
The WA Goldfields miner and producer says it has now stabilised to cash- neutral from cash-negative despite incurring one-off costs of about $1.6 million throughout the June quarter.
In April the company announced a strategic reset after a detailed review of its flagship Davyhurst gold mining and processing operations, about 120km north-west of Kalgoorlie.
The plan appears to be paying off after reporting a raft of achievements to finish the financial year as part of its quarterly activities report.
Ora Banda says stage one of the reset plan is now complete, with base operational costs lowered through fleet and personnel rationalisation, the company’s processing plant now showing throughput of about 90 per cent of its 1.2 million tonnes per annum capacity. Mining at its Riverina operations has stopped.
Ore processed for the quarter was 267.310 tonnes at an average grade of 1.9 grams per tonne for 15,053 ounces of gold recovered.
The company says plant improvements, including the evaluation of automation-ready equipment to assist with circuit control, have begun with work continuing to improve operating systems in order to increase throughput and reduce downtime.
Mining at the company’s Missouri open pit, part of the larger Siberia project about 37km south-east of its Davyhurst processing plant increased its grade to 1.9 g/t from about 200,000 tonnes of ore.
Ora Banda Mining Chief Executive Officer, Luke Creagh said: “Importantly, with our increased focus on operational execution we are seeing an increase in productivity and a reduction in mining dilution at Missouri, resulting in the mined grade increasing to 1.9gpt. In addition to this, improvements in the crushing circuit at the processing plant are beginning to take effect with our throughput increasing to 267kt in the quarter.”
Ora Banda says the implementation of its reset plan led to significant improvements in efficiencies, production rates and dig-unit utilisation increasing 20 per cent for the quarter.
The company has identified further improvements as Missouri becomes a key value driver for Ora Banda if mined tonnes and grades increase at depth as planned.
It appears the influence of newly appointed CEO, Luke Creagh and Davyhurst Operations General Manager, Simon Hillyard are having an early impact at Ora Banda.
The market will be keeping a close eye on how operations continue as the company focuses on sticking to the plan and improving efficiencies across the board.
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By Matt Birney
