It has been a momentous week for Australia’s newest gold miner, Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR), having earned its status as a $1 billion company just days after pouring first bars of the precious metal at its Gruyere mine near Laverton in Western Australia.
It has been a momentous week for Australia’s newest gold miner, Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR), having earned its status as a $1 billion company just days after pouring first bars of the precious metal at its Gruyere mine near Laverton in Western Australia.
It is no doubt the result that long-term shareholders would have been hoping for; Gold Road announced on Monday that it had poured first gold at Gruyere – a 50:50 joint venture project with mining giant Gold Fields – which, after 6 years of exploration and development work, has put the company in the ranks of ASX-listed gold producers.
That news sent Gold Road shares up by nearly 20 per cent over the course of the week, closing at $1.75 per share on Friday.
That gives the company a market capitalisation of $1.03 billion.
The three gold bars produced from the carbon-in-leach and elution circuits at Gruyere over the weekend weighed in at a combined 1,139oz, which at the current gold price is worth about $2.3 million.
“Last weekend’s gold pour was a tremendous milestone given that the Gold Road team discovered the world‐class Gruyere orebody less than six years ago,” Gold Road managing director Duncan Gibbs said.
“Our work is far from done – we remain committed to exploring the highly prospective Yamarna Greenstone Belt to unlock the potential through the discovery of more resource ounces for Gruyere and new discoveries that could be developed as stand‐alone gold mines.
“I want to thank the entire Gold Road team and our Gruyere JV partner, Gold Fields, for the safe and successful delivery of first gold at Gruyere.”
Commenting on the milestone, Gold Fields executive vice president Stuart Mathews said the first gold pour was a significant achievement.
“Gruyere is a tremendous asset based on a world‐class orebody and a forecast long mine life.
“The Gruyere JV’s focus now shifts to the safe and successful ramp‐up to nameplate capacity to allow us to deliver full value to all stakeholders.
“I would like to acknowledge the outstanding safety performance of the construction team which achieved 3 million construction hours without a lost time injury.”
