Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) is a uniquely positioned gold exploration and development company as 100% owner of the Davyhurst Gold Project in the highly productive eastern goldfields region of Western Australia.
However, investors began noticing the company after it released an update on its Riverina and Sand King underground mines at the Davyhurst Gold Project. These mines are the centrepiece of the company’s Drive to 150 Project.
The plan, as the name suggests, entails lifting the company’s annual gold production level to 150,000 ounces in the financial year ending in June 2026 at an all-in sustaining cost of between $1,740 to $1,890 per ounce.
Davyhurst is located just 120km north-west of Kalgoorlie. Ora Banda has been aiming to take its annual production to between 140,000 ounces and 160,000 ounces in 2026.
Ora Banda Mining owns an existing centralised 1.2 million tonnes per annum processing hub, as well as additional established infrastructure at Davyhurst. This has facilitated the rapid unlocking of the value contained within the known resource base held by the company.
As such, Ora Banda is the winner of the inaugural Mining.com.au Masters of Mining Emerging Explorer Award.
The award recognises an exploration company the market is beginning to notice due to a series of successes and positive outcomes, or whose market value has increased significantly over the course of the year, outperforming their peers.
Exploration drilling under the Riverina open pit, along strike and at depth has provided Ora Banda with the confidence that Riverina’s orebody has the size, grade, and future scalability to become the Davyhurst plant’s base load feed source.
Likewise, this year the company was able to execute on its plan to augment the Riverina ore, with the discovery and subsequent commissioning of the Sand King Underground mine.
According to Chairman Peter Mansell, Sand King’s role in Ora Banda’s future cannot be understated. With a producing Sand King mine, Ora Banda will soon have the secondary ore source it needs to ensure the mill is fully fed with highgrade ore.
The operation of the Davyhurst plant itself has been another positive this year for the company. Numerous improvements have been implemented by Ora Banda’s operating team.
The processing plant has recently delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of production growth. In tandem with the company’s physical mining and processing improvements has been a strong focus on people.
Mansell adds that new core values and a push to make continuous improvement a part of everything that Ora Banda does has seen a quantum shift in production performance – and great buy-in from its workforce.
The sum total of Ora Banda’s improvements means that, for the first time in its history, the company has been able to look ahead and see a growth path that is not only sustainable, but is also self-funding.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Ora Banda
