Wiluna ships first gold concentrate
ASX-listed Wiluna Mining is ticking off milestones after confirming the first shipment of its gold concentrate to its two off-take partners, Polymetal International and Trafigura. The company says the maiden concentrate supply forms part of an ongoing delivery that could significantly spike its revenue and assist in financing its transition towards becoming a top tier gold producer.
Wiluna and PMLT Holdings of Limassol Cyprus, a subsidiary of Polymetal International, have a deal for the delivery of the first 500 wet tonnes of gold concentrate. The gold producer says 14 bags, each weighing roughly 2 wet tonnes, are currently being loaded into 20 containers that will subsequently be shipped from the Port of Fremantle in WA to Vladivostok, Russia.
Departure is expected in a week or so and the concentrate will be shipped on a free on board, or “FOB” basis with payment for the first shipment transpiring within a week of the initial voyage.
As the company looks to establish itself as a leading ASX-listed gold producer, the first shipment of its gold concentrate to its two offtake partners will come as a major shot in the arm for Wiluna. With a ramp-up in concentrate expected over the next few months, gold bulls will likely cast a keen eye over the company’s activities.
CREDIT – Bull n Bears
Wiluna eyes development milestone
Perth-based gold-miner Wiluna Mining is frantically ticking boxes as it gains momentum on the downhill run towards commissioning its 750,000 tonne-per-annum flotation plant as part of its major production ramp-up plan at its namesake project in WA. The company expects the plant to be in operation in December and is targeting increased production to 120,000 ounces per annum by the end of the 2022 financial year.
Located in the mineral prolific Goldfields of WA, the Wiluna Mining Centre boasts over 7 million ounces which places it firmly in the top 10 of Australia’s largest gold districts under single ownership. More than 4 million ounces of gold have been historically mined from twenty open pits in the area and three underground mines within 20km of the company’s Wiluna processing facility.
Wiluna Mining is in the throes of completing the next development stage of a two-staged, three-year development plan which will see the company strengthen its balance sheet, increase operational cash flows, transition to the production and sale of gold concentrate and expand overall gold production dramatically. The company will also pursue more exploration and feasibility studies to ultimately reach its 250,000 ounce-per-annum Stage 2 milestone and add an additional 500,000 ounces to current underground ore reserves.
Under Stage 1 of the development plan, Wiluna aspires to increase gold production to 120,000 ounces per annum from the existing 60,000 ounces a year.
Wiluna Mining looks to add 2nd string to bow with nickel review
Perth-based gold miner and explorer Wiluna Mining can add nickel explorer to its growing resume as it embarks on an extensive review of historical exploration over its 1,600 square kilometre landholding in WA’s Northern Goldfields. Wiluna’s tenure stretches across 40km of strike in the Wiluna Greenstone Belt where the company is reviewing a plethora of high-grade nickel intercepts which look to be begging for renewed attention.
The Agnew-Wiluna region has been sporadically explored for nickel-sulphides since the nickel exploration boom of the late 1960s which was fuelled by the discovery of the world-famous nickel deposits in the Kambalda Dome. Much of the historical exploration focused solely on gold for obvious reasons with Wiluna Mining laying claim more recently to the colossal 6-million-ounce Wiluna goldfield. However, with the price of nickel in an upward trajectory as demand increases from the electric vehicle industry, there are good reasons for Wiluna to re-evaluate the nickel prospects on its tenements.
In the meantime its firm focus remains on reaching the lofty heights of an annualised gold production of 250,000 ounces. However, there is more than enough smoke from the nearby nickel targets for the company to create a second string to its considerable bow.
Wiluna Mining primed for gold production expansion
ASX-listed WA gold miner Wiluna Mining has pumped out a solid 12 months of gold production at its Wiluna operation about 530km north of Kalgoorlie in the state’s prolific north-eastern Goldfields with the performance bolstered by a cracking average price on gold sales. Wiluna has its eyes firmly on a steadily progressing “stage one” expansion program at Wiluna.
It involves the mine transforming from the current processing of free milling ore via an existing 2.1 million-tonnes-per-annum conventional CIP plant to treating sulphide ore through a 750,000 tonnes per annum-capacity flotation concentrator that is under construction. The company sees the fully developed stage one project more than doubling Wiluna’s gold production level to about 120,000 ounces per annum in concentrates from underground mining of about 750,000 tonnes of sulphide ore a year. Management says construction of the concentrator that underpins stage one is about two-thirds complete and underground mine development is well advanced.
The company is looking at commissioning the concentrator in October this year, with a view to initial stage one production kicking off in the December 2021 quarter and ramping up to 120,000 ounces per annum by the end of the 2022 financial year.
