Mining underway at Boorara

Mining has begun at Horizon Minerals’ (ASX: HRZ) Boorara gold project in WA, following approval in July to mine four open pits.

Hampton Transport Services will undertake the work on competitive terms, with no mining contractor payments until first gold pour has been sold and funds have been received.

Hampton has mobilised to and established the site with mining underway and the first drill and blast pattern fired last week to build up broken stocks in combination with free dig areas in Pit Area 2, the larger pit in the Regal zone of the Boorara ore system.

Excavation has also begun on a single shift and will transition to double shift by the end of August. A second digger shift will begin in September and ramp up to four by the end of the month.

Mining will occur over 14 months and processing over 19 months at the Norton Gold Fields Paddington plant to generate $30m in free cashflow at a gold price of $3600/oz.

Horizon managing director and chief executive Grant Haywood commented on the start of mining.

“It is very pleasing to see mining accelerating at Boorara, with all activities being undertaken ahead of schedule and safely, which is a credit to the site team and our contract business partners,” he said.

“We are eagerly awaiting mining progressing to expose first ore in September and pouring gold bars in October to give us first revenue from Boorara in this strong gold price environment.

“This is a major milestone for Horizon as we commence our journey to be a long-term sustainable gold producer, delivering significant cashflows into the business to create further value through our significant portfolio of assets.”

First ore is on track to be mined in September and processed at Paddington in October.