Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) has increased its group ore reserve estimate by 33% to 5.24 million ounces (Moz) of gold.
The company’s group mineral resource estimate has also grown 29% to 8.66Moz.
The reserve growth is underpinned by upgrades across both the operating Karlawinda Gold Project in the Pilbara region and the Mt Gibson Gold Project in the Murchison region of Western Australia.
At Karlawinda, recent drilling delivered a 32% increase in ore reserves to 1.57Moz, based on an updated mineral resource estimate of 2.99Moz. The project’s post-expansion processing capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per annum is scheduled for commissioning in the first quarter of FY27, supporting an annual gold production rate of about 150,000oz and extending the mine life to nearly 11 years.
Meanwhile, an updated Prefeasibility Study (PFS) for Mt Gibson boosted open pit reserves by 21% to 3.31Moz and introduced a maiden underground ore reserve of 365,000oz, bringing total project reserves to 3.67Moz.
The updated PFS outlines a 19.25-year mine life for Mt Gibson, with steady-state production averaging 260,000oz per annum during four full years of concurrent open pit and underground operations.
Life-of-mine forecasts include 3.5Moz of gold production at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,870/oz, generating $19.3 billion in revenue and pre-tax free cash flow of $12 billion.
Development capital for Mt Gibson is estimated at $345 million for plant and infrastructure, alongside $129 million for 15 months of pre-production mining.
Capricorn aims to start site development activities in Q2 FY27, having already received its federal environmental permit.
Executive Chairman Mark Clark says the growth in Capricorn gold reserves underpins long mine lives at both Karlawinda and Mt Gibson.
This, he says, is further supported by “compelling and deliverable growth” in the company’s gold production profile — over 400,000oz per annum within 2.5 years of commencement of operations at Mt Gibson.
Capricorn Metals is a gold producer with assets in Australia’s Pilbara region and the Mid-West.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
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