Greatland Gold has successfully poured its first gold at the Telfer gold-copper mine, marking a significant milestone for the company.
Greatland delivered its first gold bars on December 4, just days after the company finalised its acquisition of Telfer and the nearby Havieron project from Newmont.
Prior to the acquisition, Telfer’s processing operations were limited to one of the two 10-million-tonne-per-annum (Mtpa) processing trains to preserve ore for Greatland’s post-acquisition use.
The company resumed dual-train processing after the transaction, significantly boosting operational capacity.
Greatland inherited an estimated 30.5 to 34.5 million tonnes of stockpiles, including approximately 11.5 million tonnes of high-grade ore, with mining activities ongoing in the west dome open pit and main dome underground.
“Greatland’s first-ever gold production at Telfer is a wonderful milestone and a credit to our team,” Greatland Gold managing director Shaun Day said. “Equally importantly, we are delighted to have resumed dual-train processing operations in line with our Telfer mine plan.
“The combination of a strong gold price and significant ore stockpiles at surface makes this a tremendous time to own the Telfer mine.”
In a further development, Greatland has completed a 150,000-ounce hedging program to secure downside price protection.
The program involves gold-put options purchased from ANZ, HSBC, and ING at an average strike price of $3905.17 per ounce.
The hedging program is spread across 2025, with quarterly volumes resulting in the following:
- March 31, 2025: 33,996 ounces
- June 30, 2025: 46,302 ounces
- September 30, 2025: 38,910 ounces
- December 31, 2025: 30,792 ounces
The put options provide price protection while allowing full upside exposure to gold price movements for Telfer production.
Telfer is expected to produce an estimated 426,000oz gold equivalent at an estimated AISC of $US1454/oz ($2265) for a 15-month period beginning late September, which is when Newmont restarted Telfer’s processing operations.
Greatland said the approximately 11.5 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) ore stockpiles already mined will de-risk and reduce costs associated with its initial production at Telfer.
Approximately 20 million tonnes of low-grade stockpiles are also available for processing.