Ausgold is one step closer to production at the Katanning gold project in Western Australia with two additional mining leases given the green light.
The leases granted by the WA Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) cover proposed mining and mine infrastructure sites, including processing facilities, tailings storage facilities and waste dumps.
Including over 649 hectares of land, the new leases are set to double the footprint of the existing 3.04 million-ounce project.
“The grant of these mining leases is a significant milestone for the Katanning gold project,” Ausgold executive chair John Dorward said.
“Acquisition of the freehold land underlying the mining leases was only settled in June of this year, so to have already received these mining leases highlights the favourable conditions for undertaking new mining projects in Western Australia.”
Ausgold is currently progressing a definitive feasibility study for the project, which was recently supported by a share placement that raised $38 million.
The company is now in the midst of a drilling program which will see works begin this month on over 19,000m of land.
“Part of the funding from the recent $38 million equity financing was specifically earmarked for exploration,” Dorward said at the time the drilling program was announced.
“We believe that Katanning is in the early stages of being recognised as a significant gold province.”
Dorward himself committed to a $1 million subscription under the offer.
“I am enormously excited about Ausgold’s growth potential, leveraging the existing three-million-ounce resource base at the Katanning gold project and the company’s large landholding in one of Australia’s great, untapped greenstone belts,” he said at the time.
“Subject to shareholder approval, I am pleased to participate in this placement, which will see the company strongly positioned through to a final investment decision.
“Ausgold now has the capital to properly pursue its complementary goals of production and exploration-led growth.”
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