Ora Banda Mining has hit a purple patch at its Davyhurst gold operations near Kalgoorlie, banking a massive quarter of $76.3 million in free cash flow from a record-breaking March quarter.
The company says it churned out 38,766 ounces of gold to start the year, a 21 per cent jump on the previous period, now swelling its cash reserves to a formidable $231.7 million.
The stellar quarter was underpinned by record performance at the company’s Davyhurst processing plant, which achieved a new throughput high of more than 340,000 tonnes, also up 17 per cent, alongside a gold recovery high of 93 per cent.
The ore feed came from a now expanded portfolio of three mining operations.
The Riverina underground mine saw a 36 per cent lift in total ounces mined to 19,941, while the Sand King underground operation chipped in a further 19,261, a 25 per cent increase on the prior period.
Adding a third string to its production bow, Ora Banda kicked off open-pit mining at its Waihi deposit during the quarter, just three kilometres from the Davyhurst mill.
The company is now mining so much gold that it has begun trucking its ore to the nearby Paddington mill for third-party processing, slightly increasing the cost per ounce produced but adding plenty of cash to the company’s bottom line.
While the production numbers are impressive, it’s the work being done with the drill bit that has really taken the market by storm.
The company delivered a monster tenfold increase to its Round Dam trend mineral resource, which now stands at 25.6 million tonnes grading 1.6 grams per tonne (g/t) for 1.33 million ounces of gold.
The upgrade at Round Dam was the main driver behind a 57 per cent leap in the company's global resource base, which now tops 3.3 million ounces.
Ongoing exploration continues to bear fruit, with recent drilling at its Little Gem prospect expanding its mineralised envelope to over 1500m of strike and 750m deep, with the system remaining open in all directions. Adding to Little Gem’s shine, the company also announced a new parallel structure, dubbed the “Sapphire” trend, discovered just 200m to the east.
And not to be outdone, drilling at the Golden Pole lode within the Waihi project didn’t disappoint, coughing up some eye-watering grades, including a 7-metre hit going a jaw-dropping 27.4g/t gold and another hole returning 2.2m at a bonanza 56.3g/t gold.
Ora Banda Mining managing director Luke Creagh said: “Furthermore, our exploration activities continue to deliver outstanding results including high grade intercepts from Golden Pole, discoveries at Little Gem (Sapphire Trend) and the release of a significant 1.3 Moz Mineral Resource for Round Dam - these have been made possible through the Company's $73 million FY26 investment into exploration and resource development across the Davyhurst Project.”
Ora Banda says it sold 38,637 ounces of gold for the quarter at an average realised price of $6921 per ounce.
All-in sustaining costs came in at $3612 per ounce, which, whilst up quarter-on-quarter, was mainly attributable to the increased cost of using third-party mills to process some of its ore.
The company has been eyeing a fix for that issue for some time, with studies towards a new standalone 3-million-tonne-per-annum processing plant, expected to land this quarter.
With a $73 million exploration budget rolling out across the broader Davyhurst project, Ora Banda is clearly ramping up the hunt for more gold across its plentiful greenstones.
The company's 38,000-ounce quarterly haul has given punters a solid indication that it remains on track to meet its 150,000-ounce production guidance from its high-grade underground mines.
Not that long ago, Ora Banda was barely making ends meet and in need of a fresh turnaround. Now, with a bulging war chest of $231.7 million, three mining operations, and an ever-growing massive resource base, it looks positively firing on all cylinders.
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By Andrew Todd
