Greatland Gold shares (LON:GGP) rose in early trade on Wednesday morning following the regulatory and funding approval for the initial infrastructure at the Havieron prospect.
Greatland Gold are engaged in a farm-in agreement with Newcrest Mining to develop the Havieron prospect and the funding approval marks a material milestone in the development lifecycle. The prospect is operated by Newcrest who has a 70% interest in the prospect with the option to increase their stake by 5%.
The Greatland Gold share price rose over 4% to 35p in initial trade on Wednesday morning.
The Havieron drill programme has discovered peak mineral grades of 211.3g/t Au, 12.38% Cu and 4,104ppm, making it one of the most significant gold discoveries of recent years.
“We continue our journey towards potentially achieving commercial production from the Havieron Project within three years from the commencement of the box cut and exploration decline. Mineralisation remains open in multiple directions outside of Havieron’s initial Inferred Mineral Resource estimate and, with infrastructure in place at our nearby Telfer mine, we are excited about this growth project. Together with the support of our stakeholders, we hope to deliver significant value from the Havieron Project and our other exploration prospects in the Paterson Province,” said Newcrest Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sandeep Biswas.
Following the receipt of regulatory approval, Newcrest have moved to deploy A$146 million in funding to begin initial works including construction of a box cut, exploration decline and supporting surface infrastructure.
Newcrest are providing Greatland with access to a $50 million loan facility to fund their share of early works.
Greatland Gold share price
Greatland Gold shares have gained a bumper 1,440% in the past 52-week period and the company now has a market cap of £1,343m at a share price of 35p. This make Greatland Gold the 17th largest company listed on London’s AIM market with ASOS being the largest by market cap.
However, despite today’s gains, Greatland Gold shares are still down circa 5% in 2021 YTD after a substantial rally into the close of 2020.
Greatland Gold shares recorded intra-day highs above 38p on the first trading day of 2021, before falling back.