Company Interview / Mobilisation now, gold mining by September

Key points:

Horizon Minerals to develop the Boro Gold Project, expected to generate $30 million cash flow in 18 monthsOperating in a mining district hosting notable entities and major mining producers such as Northern StarWith an anticipated start to mining operations by end of August, the first gold is expected to be on the pad and through the mill by October

Grant Haywood of Horizon Minerals (ASX: HRZ) elaborates on their recent decision to proceed with the development of the Boro Gold Project. The project, expediently based only 15km east of Kalgoorlie, serves as one of Horizon's largest resources with 428,000,000oz. With a Paddington Mill and an order purchase agreement in place, the approved development expects to generate over $30 million of cash flow in the upcoming one and half years.

Furthermore, operating in a prolific gold mining district allows Horizon Minerals to rub shoulders with notable entities in the area, including top ten gold global producer Northern Star. Despite existing within a category predominantly represented by both small prospectors and major mining producers, Horizon manages to carve out its space through a blend of exploration, developing and soon-to-be gold producing capabilities.

Their strategic intent remains to develop the Boro Gold Project independently. Still, acknowledging the interconnected nature of the industry, Grant Haywood asserts that interest from larger players is a possibility. With mining operations set to commence by the end of August, and the first gold anticipated to be on the pad through the mill in October, Horizon looks set to efficiently utilise the Huron district infrastructure and produce lucrative outcomes.

Full unedited transcript:

0:00

Well. Horizon Minerals Board has approved its final investment decision for the development of the Boro Gold Project. So let's find out what it means for the company. CEO of Horizon Minerals, Grant Haywood joins me now. Hi, Grant. Nice of you to join us here on ACS. What is this Boro gold project?

0:21

Uh, Abrar Gold Project is located only 15km east of Kalgoorlie. So it's one of our largest resources of 428,000,000oz. Uh, and, um, we're currently developing that project and, uh, treating it through the Paddington Mill through an all purchase agreement, which will bring in about $30 million of cash flow over the next 18 months.

0:44

So this is a really fruitful place to be operating a gold project in, isn't it? Just talk to us about the lay of the land and some of the other people and entities working in that place.

0:58

Yeah, well, the category we're writing is, is, uh, you know, a prolific, uh, gold mining district. And there's, you know, small prospectors right through to two majors, you know, top ten gold producers in the world, such as, uh, Northern Star, um, you know, are well and truly around the region. Uh, so we fit in the smaller cap space around that area as well. And, um, yeah, there's a good, good mix of, um, sort of explorers, developers and soon to be gold producers, uh, such as ourselves, along with the majors that are already producing gold in this great region of WA. I think I was being a little bit cheeky in. I guess I should just ask it, you know, is the hope always that you get taken out by a northern star or one of the big players in the area?

1:42

Uh, look, we all, we all know each other fairly well. Uh, in this, uh, it's a large industry with a small industry. Uh, look, um, you know, we're we're keen to develop this project ourselves, but, uh, you know, if the right offer was to knock on the door, you know what? Whatever is in the best interests of shareholders, uh, you know, I'm sure our our board would, uh, would move forward with. But, uh, you know, there's there's no one knocking at the moment. Uh, and we're well on our path to being emerging, uh, you know, gold producer in our, in our own. Right. Okay. So what's the timeline? And I know that it's so difficult. You've just made the final investment decision, but how long potentially could this take before it's producing?

2:21

Well, I could be, uh, producing fairly quickly. So we're starting mobilization of the fleet immediately. Uh, we're getting people on the ground. We've, um, recruited most of the personnel we need for the mine, and we're using contract mining, so we're using a local contractor that can get on the ground running pretty quickly. So we'll start mining towards the end of August, ramping up through September. And we should have first door on the pad and through the mill in October. It sounds like you're really powering ahead, and I suppose it's a good time considering what we've been seeing with the price of gold. So when it comes to any offtake agreements, obviously too soon for that. But but where do you where do they come from? Like where do you sort of start on that front.

3:07

Oh, look, um, there's a lot of infrastructure around a great jurisdiction like Kalgoorlie. There's probably 5 or 6 operating processing plants, uh, you know, owned by, um, you know, a lot of listed companies and also private enterprises. So there is some opportunity there to utilize the infrastructure in the region. So that's what we've done. So we've got a 1.2 in time per annum. Um sorry 1.2 million tonne agreement with Norton Goldfields that have the Paddington plant, which is about a 50 kilometre haul from my mine. So, so nice and close. And we also have a 200,000 tonne agreement with, uh, FMA investments with their greenfields plant and equal guard. So, you know, there is opportunity to try and find places, uh, to treat you or even if you don't have your own mill. Um, and as you said, it's a great time in US and Aussie dollar gold terms to, uh, to reproducing gold.