Evolution Mining has extended the mine life for both its Ernest Henry mine in Queensland and the Mungari mine in Western Australia.
The Evolution board approved the Ernest Henry extension project earlier this week, extending the life of the copper-gold mine to 2040.
The Mungari gold mine life has been extended to 15 years.
“In under 18 months of owning 100 per cent of Ernest Henry, we have doubled copper and gold reserves and extended the mine life out to 2040,” Evolution managing director and chief executive officer Lawrie Conway said.
“By any measure this is an outstanding achievement. The pre-feasibility study demonstrates excellent financial returns, but the most exciting aspect is that all of the outstanding exploration success we are enjoying is not yet captured and will be included in feasibility study that we are now commencing.
“We have never been so excited about the future of Ernest Henry.”
The Evolution board has approved capital investment of $250 million for the Mungari plant expansion, from two million tonnes to 4.2 million tonnes per annum.
“Mungari has demonstrated its capacity to consistently and reliably deliver approximately 135,000 ounces per annum in recent years,” Conway said.
“This plant expansion unlocks the very large regional resource base, reduces all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) by 18 per cent to $1750 per ounce, extends the mine life out to 15 years, and grows production to over 200,000 ounces post commissioning.
“The expansion was always envisaged and formed part of our due diligence when we acquired the Kundana and East Kundana properties in 2021. Having successfully integrated the operations, this is now the next logical phase of making Mungari a cornerstone asset of Evolution.
“We have rigorously tested the capital cost estimate and are confident in our capacity to deliver this project on time and budget.
“We are also confident that we will be able to discover additional ounces which will add further to the value of the project and are excited about the future at Mungari.”