Name of the Project
Boorara gold project – Stage 1.

Location
The project is 10 km east of Kalgoorlie’s Super Pit gold mine, on the eastern edge of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, in Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
Horizon Minerals.

Project Description
The project will mine a series of four openpits containing 1.24-million tonnes of ore at 1.24 g/t gold for 49 500 oz of gold.

Processing will be undertaken at Norton Gold Fields’ Paddington plant.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value of A$2.8-million.

Capital Expenditure
The project has low upfront capital costs of A$440 000.

Planned Start/End Date
Mining started in August 2024 and operations are expected to span 14 months, with processing continuing over 19 months through an ore sale agreement with Norton Gold Fields.

Latest Developments
Horizon Minerals has started hauling ore from the project.

The first ore stockpile, comprising 54 380 t, is being processed at Norton Gold Fields’ Paddington mill. This initial batch, with an average grade of 0.8 g/t gold and a 94% recovery rate, is expected to yield about 1 400 oz of gold. 

Under the agreement, Norton will pay Horizon 50% of gross revenue, excluding the estimated processing costs, within five days of ore delivery to the mill's run-of-mine pad. A final revenue calculation will be made upon full processing, accounting for actual grade, recovery rates and associated costs.

The ore is projected to generate gross revenue of about $5.78-million, based on the current spot gold price of A$4 130/oz minus processing costs and royalties. Grades are anticipated to improve as mining progresses through Boorara's series of openpits.

Horizon approved the development of Boorara in July, targeting the extraction of 1.24-million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.24 g/t gold, equating to an estimated 49 500 oz. 

Mining activities have targeted pits 2 and 4 to assemble the first ore stockpile. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
BM Geological Services (geology and resource estimates); Green Geotechnical (geotechnical assessment); Minecomp (mining and ore reserve); ALS Metallurgy and Bureau Veritas Minerals (metallurigical testwork); Rockwater (hydrology and hydrogeology); Strategen-JBS&G Environmental Consultants (environmental studies); Hampton Transport Services (ore haulage); and Norton Gold Fields (ore processing).

Contact Details for Project Information
Horizon Minerals, tel +61 8 9386 9534 or email info@horizonminerals.com.au