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Brought to you by BULLS N’ BEARS
James Pearson
Auric Mining is enjoying the fruits of a stellar production run at its Munda gold project near Widgiemooltha in WA. The company has smashed previous production forecasts by nearly 40 per cent, delivering more than 8,400 ounces of gold and boosting the company’s cash and bullion to a hefty $41 million.
The impressive result stems from two processing campaigns at Black Cat Syndicate’s nearby Lakewood Mill, with the latest gold pour delivering 938 ounces, bringing the tally from campaign two alone to an impressive 5,757 ounces. The gold-in-circuit calculation is also being finalised and is likely to add further ounces to the haul.
When combined with the 2,718 ounces recovered from campaign one in late 2025, the result leaves the company miles ahead of its original starter pit production budget of 6,100 ounces. And just as importantly, the company says every outturn from the second campaign beat its original grade forecasts, hinting that a far more significant prize than earlier estimated may be lurking beneath in the Munda Main pit.
More than 125,000 tonnes of ore have now been treated at Lakewood since milling began in October last year. The toll-treatment arrangement has allowed Auric to monetise the starter pit quickly without the heavy capital burden of building its own processing plant.
‘The fantastic news from Munda Campaign Two just keeps on coming.’
Auric Mining managing director Mark English
That decision now looks particularly savvy given the current strength of the gold price, which continues to hover near record levels in Australian dollar terms.
Auric has also chosen to maintain a degree of flexibility around when it sells its gold. The company currently holds 4,210 ounces of gold and 343 ounces of silver in its metal account at ABC Refinery, effectively giving it the option to time sales into favourable price windows.
Auric Mining managing director Mark English said: “The fantastic news from Munda Campaign Two just keeps on coming. Truly exceptional results. Adding to the overall tally is a further 938 ounces, for a fantastic 5,757 ounces of gold produced from Campaign Two, following the fourth and final outturn from this campaign.”
The financial impact of the Munda campaigns is already evident on the company’s balance sheet. Auric now boasts a combined $41 million in cash, bullion and listed investments – a significant war chest for a junior miner and one that dramatically reduces the need for dilutive capital raisings.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the starter pit success, however, is the operational knowledge it has provided. Mining and processing the ore has delivered real-world data on metallurgy, recoveries and mining conditions that will feed directly into planning for the much larger Munda main pit, which represents the company’s longer-term prize.
On paper, Auric’s looming Munda Main Pit is already shaping up as a tidy little money-spinner. The current resource clocks in at 3.65 million tonnes grading 1.23 grams per tonne for about 145,000 ounces of gold at a 0.5g/t cut-off – a solid base for what could become a profitable open pit.
Relax the cut-off grade to 0.2g/t and the numbers swell to roughly 189,000 ounces, hinting there could be plenty more life in the system than the headline figure suggests.
Back in 2023, Kalgoorlie consultants Minecomp ran the ruler over the project using what now looks like a conservative $2600-per-ounce gold price. Even at that level, the study outlined a 1.716-million-tonne operation grading 2.2g/t capable of generating about $76.9 million in undiscounted surplus cash.
With the starter pit already throwing off gold and cash, Auric has now shown it can efficiently pull ounces out of the ground while keeping a firm lid on costs.
If the starter pit performance is anything to go by, the bigger development could turn out to be far more than just a modest step up in scale.
For now, however, Auric is already enjoying something many small gold explorers dream about but rarely achieve – real production, real cash flow and a rapidly growing balance sheet.
And in today’s gold market, that combination is about as good as it gets.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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