In this morning’s June Quarter Update from Greatland Gold (LON:GGP) the group is determined to get total control of its Havieron gold-copper project.
The £377m-capitalised Greatland is a mining development and exploration company focused primarily on precious and base metals, its flagship asset is the world-class Havieron gold-copper project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.
It was discovered by Greatland and is presently under development in joint venture with world gold major, Newmont Corporation which has stated that it considered its 70% interest in Havieron and ownership of the nearby Telfer gold-copper mine as non-core assets which it intends to divest.
Under the Havieron joint venture agreement, Greatland holds a right of last refusal in respect of a sale by Newmont of its joint venture interest in Havieron to a third party.
Greatland continues to consider itself strongly positioned should there be an opportunity to consolidate ownership of Havieron on accretive terms for Greatland’s shareholders.
The Telfer Gold Mine
Havieron is located some 45km east of Newcrest’s existing Telfer gold mine.
The box cut and decline to the Havieron orebody commenced in February 2021.
By the end of June the total development had exceeded 3,060m including over 2,110m of advance in the main access decline.
Subject to a positive feasibility study and Decision to Mine, Havieron is intended to leverage the existing Telfer infrastructure and processing plant.
Importantly, the group has stated that access to Telfer would de-risk the development and would reduce capital expenditure.
Managing Director Shaun Day stated that:
“At Havieron, good progress was made in the quarter with the EPA’s formal decision to assess the environmental approval application.
In respect of Newmont’s announced intention to dispose of its interest in Havieron and nearby Telfer mine, we continue to consider ourselves strongly positioned for any potential opportunity to consolidate ownership of Havieron on accretive terms for our existing shareholders.
Excellent progress is being made across Greatland’s exploration portfolio, and we are pleased to share a detailed review and look-ahead for our high priority exploration projects in this release.
FY25 promises to be a busy year for our exploration team and we look forward to providing updates on our activities.”
Looking For Early News Of ‘First Ore’
The group has a proven track record of discovery and exploration success and is pursuing the next generation of tier-one mineral deposits by applying advanced exploration techniques in under-explored regions.
Greatland has a number of exploration projects across Western Australia and in parallel to the development of Havieron is focused on becoming a multi-commodity miner of significant scale.
The group’s shares, which were up to 11.25p in late November last year, are currently trading at around 7.30p and look capable of advancing in price, especially if we soon get any news of ‘first ore’ from the decline development.