Norton Gold Fields has committed $40 million for the development of its Enterprise open pit project, which will be the next base load operation for the company’s Paddington mill near Kalgoorlie.
The development will start immediately, the gold miner said today, and the open pit will provide the bulk of the ore to the 3.3 million tonne per annum mill.
“With a higher grade than Navajo Chief, the current base load operation, Enterprise will allow us to both increase Paddington’s gold production and reduce unit production costs,” managing director Dianmen Chen said.
Enterprise has probable ore reserves of 563,000 ounces of gold, and will produce 110,000 ounces each year for the next five years. The open pit has a net present value of $136.6 million.
Funds for the development will be sourced from the recently announced $105 million credit facility through the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Shares in Norton closed unchanged at 19c today.
