Hot gold market boosts Horizon’s Kalgoorlie resource tally

Riding a red-hot gold market, Horizon Minerals has delivered a timely upgrade to its Kalgoorlie portfolio, boosting its global resource base to 34.3 million tonnes at 1.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 1.88 million ounces. 

The resource reshuffle has delivered a 16 per cent jump in tonnes, translating into a healthy 6.5 per cent increase, adding 114,000 ounces in contained gold to the resource.

The uplift is not the result of flashy new drill hits, but rather a pragmatic response to surging gold prices that have changed the rules of the game. 

With the yellow metal trading at levels few would have contemplated just a few years ago, Horizon has revisited its assumptions for economic extraction across several of its deposits, lowering reporting cut-off grades and bringing previously stranded ounces back into the spotlight.

The company has re-reported mineral resource estimates completed between 2021 and 2023 at a revised cutoff grade of 0.5g/t gold, compared with the previously reported cutoff grade of 0.8 g/t gold. 

In many cases, the revised deposits have shown sharp hikes in tonnes and contained ounces after being remodelled at lower cut-off grades and in some examples, the uplift has been dramatic, highlighting just how gold-price sensitive these deposits can be.

At the heart of the updated inventory, Horizon’s cornerstone Boorara project, 15 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie and its Burbanks assets near Coolgardie continue to anchor the company’s development ambitions in the near-Kalgoorlie region. 

While Boorara has already seen mining depletion following recent production, it still carries a significant resource of 9.8 million tonnes grading 1.27g/t gold for 398,000 ounces of gold and has proven its credentials as a reliable source of cash flow in a strong market.

Similarly, the company’s Phillips Find operation, northeast of Kalgoorlie, was depleted by mining up to June last year. However, the remaining open-pit resource still stands at 595,000 tonnes grading 2.36g/t for 45,200 of contained gold, while its modest underground mineral resource remains unchanged. 

The company’s second most significant deposit, at Burbanks, features an estimated open-pit inventory of 4.86 million tonnes at 1.9g/t gold for 298,000 ounces of the yellow metal. In comparison, its underground deposit carries another 1.19 million tonnes at a handsome 4.38g/t gold, for a contained 168,000 ounces of gold.   

Importantly, management says the exercise is far more than an accounting tweak. By redefining cut-off grades in line with today’s gold price reality, Horizon has materially lifted its total ounces. 

Horizon Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Grant Haywood said: “The sustained uplift in the gold price has brought previously marginal lower-grade tonnages into the economic envelope. By redefining cut-off grades, we have delivered a meaningful uplift in total resource ounces.”

The timing of Horizon’s re-reported global resource has taken on added significance, with the company pushing ahead on technical work linked to its Black Swan processing hub, a centrepiece strategy aimed at delivering sustained gold production and ongoing cashflows. 

The expanded resource base is expected to underpin the Black Swan study, which is slated for release in the March 2026 quarter, giving planners more optionality around feed sources, mine sequencing and mine life.

Several other satellite deposits have also benefited from the resource re-work. Assets such as Kalpini, Crake, Coote, Golden Ridge North, Jacques-Peyes and Gordons Dam have all been reassessed under Horizon’s refocused economic lens.

The final wash-up of Horizon’s comprehensive resource reassessment includes a dizzying 21 deposits, including open pit and underground resources, which it has distinguished separately.

The broader message for investors is clear. Horizon is steadily transforming from a scattered collection of disparate gold projects into a coherent production-focused business with scale. 

Its substantial resource base, spread across multiple deposits in an infrastructure-rich region, gives the company huge flexibility to blend ore sources, smooth production profiles and respond quickly to individual mine hiccups or varying market conditions.

In a market where ounces in the ground are being re-rated almost as fast as the gold price itself, Horizon’s energised 1.88-million-ounce total gold inventory places it firmly on the radar. 

With studies advancing, infrastructure in place and a supportive price environment doing the heavy lifting, the company looks increasingly well-positioned to turn its swelling resource base into sustained gold output and meaningful cash generation over the coming years. 

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au