Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd: Quarterly Activities Report
The Wiluna Mining Operation currently has a Mineral Resource of greater than 5.5 million ounces and is one of the largest gold districts in Australia under single ownership.
The Wiluna Mining Operation is currently in development with a staged, 3-year program underway to transform Wiluna from a modest, cashflow positive producer of free milling ore via a conventional Carbon-In-Pulp (CIP) plant to a multi-circuit operation producing circa 200-250kozpa. The staged development plan, on completion, will enable Wiluna to treat all the ore types at Wiluna through four processes including:
- Existing 2.1Mtpa CIP process plant;
- 750,000 tpa flotation concentrator which is now complete and was successfully commissioned in December 2021, scaling up to 1.5 Mtpa capacity by FY2024;
- Gravity circuit which produces gold dore; and
- Tailings retreatment plant which links tailings reclaim and re-slurrying with the existing CIP circuit to produce gold dore.
Stage 1 development is defined at a targeted production profile of 100kozpa-120kozpa. The final size and shape of the Stage 2 development at the Wiluna Mining Operation will depend on the conclusions from the Feasibility Study currently taking place.
HIGHLIGHTS
GROWTH
- $46.7 million net investment during the quarter ($41.9 million in Sept'21 quarter), principally in mine development and in completing the concentrator
- Stage 1 concentrator successfully commissioned and outperforming nameplate capacity; targeting full production run rate of 100kozpa-120kozpa by end of June 2022
- Development meters (including rehabilitation) for the quarter were 2,739 metres, YTD 5,012 metres
- Underground sulphide development on schedule; 88,731 ore tonnes mined financial year to date
- ~139,000 tonnes of sulphide ore stockpiled and ready to process as at 31 December 2021
- 1,159 wet tonnes of gold concentrate ready for export produced to the date of this report; average concentrate grade of 69 g/t
- Construction of Wiltails continues; work is 20% complete. Expected commissioning in May 2022. Wiltails will contribute a material increase in gold production over a long life.
- Stage 2 Feasibility Study continues; completion expected end of March 2022
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT & DISCOVERY
- Mineral Resource update during the quarter; total Mineral Resource is now 5.53Moz @ 2.19g/t, including 4.51Moz @ 3.90g/t at the Wiluna Mining Centre
- Discovery drilling program targeted to commence in February, 40,000 metres targeting high-grade shoots at Wiluna
FINANCIAL, CORPORATE & ESG
- Cash and Bullion at 31 December 2021 $41.6 million (30 September $18.1m)
- Successful capital raising completed during the quarter to raise $53 million before costs; approximately $5.2 million of the capital raise was received in early January 2022 and is not included in the 31 December cash and bullion balance
- Mercuria Tranche 2 debt repayment commencement extended for 3 months, commencing April 2022
- Gold hedging contracts at 31 December 2021 were for 156,500oz @ US$1,820/oz (or ~A$2,509/oz), with a negative mark-to-market position of A$5.0m
- London Stock Exchange main board listing targeted in coming months
- Continued development and implementation of ESG platform
TRANSITIONAL OPERATIONS
- Positive net cash from operations (before overheads and treasury) for the December 2021 quarter was $8.3m (YTD: $19.4m)
- Operations cash flow for the quarter was derived from WMC gold production of 7,752oz (with 5,863oz of gold sold at an average price of A$2,439.42/oz) and additional toll treating of 84,794 tonnes third-party ore
To view the full quarterly report, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/6IFPO35K
About Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd:
Wiluna Mining Corp. (ASX:WMC) (OTCMKTS:WMXCF) is a Perth based, ASX listed gold mining company that controls over 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Craton in the Northern Goldfields of WA. The Yilgarn Craton has a historic and current gold endowment of over 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world. The Company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation which has a defined resource of 8.04M oz at 1.67 g/t au. In May 2019, a new highly skilled management team took control of the Company with a clear plan to leverage the Wiluna Gold Operation's multi-million-ounce potential.
Source:
Wiluna Mining Corp. Ltd
Contact:
Milan Jerkovic Executive Chair +61 8 9322 6418 Jim Malone General Manager Investor Relations +61 419 537 714 Dannika Warburton Media & Communications +61 401 094 261