Microsoft Word - March Quarterly Report.docx
ASX Announcement
22 April 2016
Quarterly Report
For the period ending 31 March 2016
Highlights
Gruyere Pre‐Feasibility Study confirms long‐life gold mine (at A$1,500/oz Au)
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Pre‐Feasibility Study findings indicate a technically sound and financially viable Project
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Project generates in excess of A$1 billion in undiscounted free cash flow (pre‐tax) over an initial 12‐year life1
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Maiden Ore Reserve of 3.17 million ounces of gold
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Feasibility Study commenced and on schedule for completion December 2016 quarter
Gruyere Mineral Resource update includes 14 million tonnes Measured category
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Gruyere Mineral Resource increases 10% to 6.2 million ounces of gold
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Measured Resource increases 633% to 0.5 million ounces of gold representing approximately the first two years of production based on PFS projections
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Indicated Resource converted to Measured Resource with minimal variance
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Geological interpretation and mineralisation model confirmed and refined
2016 Regional Exploration Program underway
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Extensional RC drilling at Smokebush Dolerite adds 200 metres strike to mineralisation
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Reverse Circulation drilling completed at Smokebush, Yaffler prospects and in progress at Toppin Hill prospect within South Yamarna Joint Venture (SYJV)
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Reverse Circulation and early diamond drilling completed on multiple Wanderrie Supergroup Anomaly targets (North Yamarna)
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Several small Aircore programmes drilled at MCS prospect and Dorothy Hills Camp Scale Target (North Yamarna)
ASX Code GOR
ABN 13 109 289 527
COMPANY DIRECTORS
Ian Murray
Executive Chairman
Justin Osborne
Executive Director
Russell Davis
Non-Executive Director
Tim Netscher
Non-Executive Director
Martin Pyle
Non-Executive Director
Kevin Hart
Company Secretary
CONTACT DETAILS
Principal & Registered Office Level 2, 26 Colin Street
West Perth WA 6005
www.goldroad.com.au [email protected]
T +61 8 9200 1600
F +61 8 9481 6405
1 See the Company's ASX announcement entitled 'Gruyere Pre‐Feasibility Study Confirms Long Life Gold Mine' dated 8 February 2016 and the notes regarding production targets on page 8 of this announcement.
EXPLORATION and DEVELOPMENT
Dorothy Hills Project (Gold Road 100%)
Gruyere Pre-Feasibility Study
During the quarter, Gold Road Resources Limited ("Gold Road" or the "Company") completed the Pre‐Feasibility Study (PFS) for the development of its 6.2 million ounce Gruyere Project, located 200 kilometres east of Laverton in Western Australia.
The PFS included detailed economic analysis and further technical work building on the findings of the first stage Options Study, which determined that the best go‐forward case was a large‐scale open‐pit mine utilising a conventional 7.5 million tonne per annum SAG/Ball Mill circuit gravity/carbon‐in‐leach (CIL) processing facility, powered by a pipeline‐supplied gas‐fired power generation plant.
The full study, run at A$1,500 per ounce of gold, confirmed Gruyere's standing as one of Australia's best undeveloped gold deposits and indicated a technically sound and financially viable project generating more than A$1 billion in undiscounted free cash flow (pre‐tax) over an initial 12‐year life.
Key to the positive completion of the PFS, Gold Road declared a Maiden Gruyere Ore Reserve of 3.17 million ounces of gold, which would support average annual gold production of 265,000 ounces over the life of mine. Production at this rate would elevate Gold Road into the ranks of Australia's mid‐tier gold producers.
Based on the positive PFS outcome, the Gold Road Board approved the immediate progression to a Feasibility Study (FS) on the Gruyere Project. The FS is on schedule for completion in the December 2016 quarter, allowing the Company to make an investment decision in late 2016 or early 2017.
Further information in relation to these production targets, and the forecast financial information derived from the production targets, are set out in the Company's announcement in relation to the PFS on 8 February 2016.
Table 1: Summary of PFS Financial Outcomes (at A$1,500/oz Au (US$1,095/oz)8
Measure
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Units
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PFS
Outcome8
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US$8
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Gold Produced
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koz
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2,917
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Gross Revenue
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A$M
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4,375
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3,195
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Free Cash flow - Pre Tax
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A$M
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1,085
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795
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Free Cash flow - Post Tax
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A$M
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770
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565
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C1 Cash Costs1
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A$/oz
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855
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625
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C2 Cash Costs2
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A$/oz
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1,060
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774
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C3 Cash Costs3
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A$/oz
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1,110
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810
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All in Sustaining Costs (AISC)4
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A$/oz
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960
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700
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All in Costs (AIC)5
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A$/oz
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1,115
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815
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Development Capital Cost6
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A$M
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455
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335
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Sustaining Capital Cost7
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A$M
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140
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102
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Development Capital Cost per ounce (Dev. Capex / Gold Produced)
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A$/oz
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156
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115
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Payback Period (months)
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Months
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42
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Payback Period
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% of LOM
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32
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Project LOM Costs
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A$M
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3,260
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2,380
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Notes: All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding.
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C1 = Mining and Processing Operating Expenditure + Site General and Administration Expenditure + Transport and Refining Costs
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C2 = C1 + Depreciation + Amortisation
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C3= C2+ Royalties + Levies + Net Interest Costs
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AISC = C1 + Royalties + Levies + Sustaining Capital + Project related offsite Corporate expenditure
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AIC = AISC + Development Capital Expenditure
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The Development Capital Cost is in Q3 2015 Real terms. The forecast capital cost including potential escalation to Project completion (Q4 2018) is estimated to be A$470M.
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Total estimated cost to sustain the assets over project life
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A$:US$ exchange rate A$1:US$0.73
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Gruyere Feasibility Study
A number of activities associated with the FS were undertaken during the March 2016 quarter, including:
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Engaging GR Engineering Services and AMC Consultants as the Lead Engineers for the process plant/infrastructure and mine planning respectively. Both consultants are progressing to schedule.
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Completion of approximately 3,000 metres of additional geotechnical drilling. Geotechnical modelling of the final pit to FS level continues.
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Completion of the engineering geotechnical drilling for the process plant, tailings storage facility and proposed non‐process infrastructure locations.
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Submitted the Referral of a Proposal to the Environmental Protection Authority under Section 38 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 for the Gruyere Gold Project. The Company is waiting for the Office of the Environmental Protection Authority to determine the required level of assessment.
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Completion of all metallurgical test work required for the FS.
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Enquiries for pricing of major process plant equipment have been lodged with a range of suppliers. Responses are expected to be received within the June 2016 quarter
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Preliminary planning for the Project implementation phase has commenced with the possibility of an Early Works program commencing by end of calendar year 2016, thereby facilitating the smoothing of site activities during the construction phase.
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Tender documentation for the Build, Own and Operation of the site based Power Station and associated infrastructure has been issued to selected participants, with tenders due for submission within the June 2016 quarter.
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Expressions of Interest and pre‐qualification documents have been sent to potential construction contractors in preparation for the implementation phase.
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Recruitment of key staff, in accordance with the Operational Readiness programme has commenced, starting with health and safety.
Gruyere Mineral Resource Update
An update to the Mineral Resource for the 100% owned Gruyere Gold Project was completed, and now totals
147.71 million tonnes at 1.30 g/t Au for a total of 6.16 million ounces of gold, which represents a 15% increase in tonnes, a 5% decrease in grade (resulting from lowering the cut‐off grade), and a 10% increase in metal (ASX Announcement dated 22 April 2016) compared to the previous Mineral Resource. The updated Mineral Resource also includes 13.86 million tonnes at 1.18 g/t Au for 0.53 million ounces in the Measured resource category. The updated Mineral Resource is reported at a 0.5 g/t Au cut‐off (compared to previous 0.7 g/t cut‐ off Au) and evaluated using a A$1,700 per ounce gold price (compared to previous A$1,600 per ounce gold).
A significant portion of the Indicated Resource was upgraded to Measured Resource with the addition of almost 15,000 meters of new RC drilling on a grade control equivalent drill spacing with minimal variance. The amount of change for the Primary Domain (which comprises 99% of the total Mineral Resource) in the new Measured volume showed an increase of 3% tonnes, a decrease of only 1% in grade, for an additional 2% ounces, reported at the 0.5 g/t cut‐off Au. This demonstrates that the Gruyere Mineral Resource is robust with only modest variability demonstrated with the addition of closely spaced drilling data.
No changes have been made to Central Bore or Attila Trend Mineral Resources.
North Yamarna Project (Gold Road 100%)
Sun River-Wanderrie Camp Scale Target
A program of RC drilling was completed at the Sun River‐Wanderrie Camp Scale Target during the quarter testing beneath Aircore intersections previously returned from the Blackmore, Santana, Hendrix, Vai and Satriani targets. These targets all lie within the 5.2 kilometre strike length of the Supergroup Anomaly. A six hole diamond drilling programme was also completed to provide early structural and stratigraphic information in areas with identified aircore gold anomalism. Assay results are pending for the new programmes.
Further Aircore drilling is planned to be completed in the June 2016 quarter to test the five kilometre southern extension of the Supergroup Anomaly mineralised trend that is interpreted to be fault‐offset to the west of the existing drilling. There also remains multiple untested targets from the 2014 Aircore program to test during 2016.
South Dorothy Hills Camp Scale Target
At South Dorothy Hills, several small Aircore drilling programs were completed testing targets at the MCS Prospect located to the south‐west of Gruyere. Results from these programs are pending.
Diamond drilling also commenced during the quarter, with a stratigraphic hole drilled at the Monteith prospect, and two holes drilled at the YAM14 discovery to test the deeper mineralised structures first identified in late 2013 and gain geological and structural information from the Dorothy Hills Shear Zone.
South Yamarna Joint Venture Project (Sumitomo 50%)
Several Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling programs, targeting dolerite‐hosted gold mineralisation, commenced on the South Yamarna tenements during the quarter, including the Riviera‐Smokebush Camp Scale Target and the Breelya‐Toppin Hill Camp Scale Target.
RC drilling at Smokebush Dolerite prospect extended the known strike length of gold mineralisation by 200 metres to 1,300 metres, and confirmed the northern continuation of the prospective dolerite into demagnetised zones which are interpreted to be areas of dolerite disturbed by cross cutting possibly gold bearing shear zones.
At the Yaffler prospect at Riviera‐Smokebush, RC testing of Aircore anomalies identified prospective quartz dolerites with promising biotite‐rich alteration zones, with assays due in the June 2016 quarter. RC drilling at the Toppin Hill prospect is in progress.
Sumitomo lifts interest in South Yamarna to 50%
Subsequent to the end of the March 2016 quarter, Gold Road announced that Sumitomo Metal Mining Oceania Pty Limited (Sumitomo), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd, had increased its interest in the SYJV to 50%.
Under the terms of the Joint Venture Agreement signed between Gold Road and Sumitomo in May 2013, Sumitomo was required to contribute A$8 million to exploration on the South Yamarna tenements by the end of 2016 to earn a 50% share in the SYJV. This commitment was met in the March 2016 quarter.
Following the change in ownership structure, agreement has been reached for Gold Road to continue as manager, and to take on the chairmanship, of the SYJV. Going forward, each party has the right to elect to either contribute to exploration expenditure in proportion to its Joint Venture interest or not contribute (and have its Joint Venture interest diluted if the other party contributes). Gold Road is committing to fund its 50% contribution to expenditure going forward, and has funds budgeted for this activity.