Increasing grades and mining tonnages were among the many highlights of the December 2024 quarter for Bellevue Gold.
Earlier this month, the gold miner revealed it had sold 26,230 ounces (oz) of gold at an average sale price of $3339/oz during the period and had delivered record stope tonnes.
But that’s not where Bellevue’s achievements end.
Bellevue produced 26,059oz during the December quarter, positioning the company to achieve its second half (H2) production guidance for the 2024–25 financial year (FY25).
The company also processed 277,000 tonnes (t) at 3.1 grams per tonne of gold, with a 94 per cent recovery rate. This included a record 106,000t processed in the month of December.
Bellevue credited this result to the completion of significant upgrades to the underground infrastructure at its namesake gold operation in Western Australia.
“The investments we have made in infrastructure and mine development are starting to bear fruit,” Bellevue managing director Darren Stralow said.
“Mined tonnages are increasing and, as expected, grades will rise as we move into richer areas of the orebody. As a result, production will increase, costs will fall and free cash flow will grow.”
Exploration and drilling were also a highlight for Bellevue, having completed 33,143m of underground drilling during the quarter.
“The recently reported grade control drilling results underpin our scheduled production growth to an annualised rate of 200,000oz (per annum) in the June 2024 quarter and second-half FY25 guidance of (approximately) 90,000oz,” Stralow said.
“The benefits of this growth can also be seen in our costs, with project AISC (all-in sustaining cost) of $1750–1950/oz forecast for H2 FY25.”
A variety of decarbonisation initiatives are expected to aid Bellevue in becoming the first Australian gold miner to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2026. These include a fully operational 27-megawatt solar farm and 15-megawatt/29-megawatt-hour battery energy storage solution and the soon-to-be installed 4 x 6 megawatt wind turbines.
“As well as the strong progress made in mining and production, we are also set to become Australia’s first gold miner with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by next year,” Stralow said.
“This is a major achievement and reflects Bellevue’s commitment to strong corporate social responsibility.”
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