Bellevue Gold is on track to produce 200,000 ounces of gold a year at industry leading costs for the first five years at its namesake project in Western Australia after making positive progress in the September quarter.
Managing director Steve Parsons described it as a pivotal quarter which locked in Bellevue’s future as a substantial low-cost, high margin Australian gold producer. The company is forecasting all-in sustaining costs of $922/ounce once operations begin.
“We are also forecast to generate the lowest carbon emissions per ounce of any major Australian gold miner,” he said.
During the quarter, Bellevue delivered updated project resources with growth to 3.0 million ounces (Moz) at 9.9 grams a tonne (g/t) gold, including 1.4Moz at 11g/t gold in the indicated category.
Bellevue also completed a $106 million share placement, announced a $25 million share purchase plan and secured an underwritten and credit-approved project loan of $200 million from Macquarie Bank, fully-funding the Bellevue gold project through to production.
“In addition to our development and production strategy, we are continuing to create significant shareholder value by upgrading and growing our gold inventory through our aggressive drilling programs,” Parsons said.
“We have resources of 1.4 million ounces which sit outside the current mine plan and we continue to extend the boundaries of the known mineralisation, paving the way for resource increases.”
Exploration growth is now being delivered from underground drilling from the refurbished decline, ensuring Bellevue benefits from a significant reduction in costs compared to surface drilling.
The company completed 654 metres of underground development in the refurbished Paris and Armand/Marceline declines during the quarter, and 3030 metres of development has now been undertaken since the re-entry of the underground.
Its indicated resource has grown by 34 per cent since the delivery of the stage one feasibility study, underpinning a 33 per cent increase in plant throughput.
Bellevue remains on track to be Australia’s next significant high-grade gold mine, with targeted first production in the June 2023 quarter.