Aureka (ASX:AKA) has entered a binding agreement to acquire 100% of High Grade Holdings (HGH) for $8.9 million, gaining the operating Fiddlers Creek gold and silver mine and Wedderburn gold processing mill in Victoria.
The majority scrip transaction comprises $2.5 million cash and $6.4 million in Aureka shares, plus $500,000 in rehabilitation bond reimbursements.
Under the terms, up to $2 million in contingent performance payments may become payable if production and project milestones are achieved.
The transaction is set to transform Aureka into Victoria’s newest ASX-listed gold producer, with the combined portfolio hosting approximately 455,000 ounces of inferred JORC mineral resources at 2.27 grams per tonne gold.
A ‘strategic fit’ for Aureka
Managing Director James Gurry says the transaction moves Aureka into production in a ‘controlled’ and ‘measured’ way in Victoria.
“The strategic fit is abundantly clear […] Aureka has a large and growing Victorian gold portfolio, including the scale potential of Irvine in the multimillion-ounce Stawell Corridor and the brownfield opportunity Comstock at St Arnaud. But up to this point, we did not own a processing facility,” Gurry notes.
“All assets are proximate to each other in regional Victoria, so coming together under one portfolio provides […] genuine industrial synergy.”
Commercially, the portfolio centres on the Wedderburn gold processing mill, which has a stated capacity of approximately 42,000 tonnes per annum.
Only one of six mills in Victoria, the facility currently processes ore from Fiddlers Creek. The mill also has spare capacity for third-party tolling under existing licences.
Meanwhile, during the FY2026 ramp-up period, Fiddlers Creek achieved an average head grade of 7g/t gold and recovered 416 ounces of gold with average recoveries of 86%.
HGH’s unaudited management accounts show positive monthly free cash flow since Q2 2026, positive net tangible assets, and no term debt.
HGH Director Kenneth Bush says “this is more than a sale for cash and shares”.
“Taking the majority of the consideration in scrip lets us realise part of the value we helped create at Fiddlers Creek and Wedderburn while staying invested in what those assets can become inside a larger Victorian gold platform,” Bush says.
Aureka notes the transaction also includes the right for HGH to nominate one non-executive director to the company board.
If any of the acquired assets are contributed to a spinout vehicle within three years, HGH majority shareholders may also nominate one director to the spinout vehicle.
Capital raising and share purchase plan announced
To support the acquisition, Aureka has secured commitment letters for a two-tranche placement raising $5.65 million at $0.12 per share, alongside a matching share purchase plan.
Completion remains subject to conditions precedent, including shareholder approval and due diligence, with a targeted completion following a shareholder meeting in October 2026.
Aureka is a mineral explorer focused on gold projects in Victoria.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Aureka
