Bellevue Gold Limited (ASX: BGL) has signed an agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Genesis Minerals under which Genesis will process material from the Bellevue Gold Mine, predominantly from the Vanguard open pit.
This toll treating agreement will see Vanguard ore processed at Genesis’s Gwalia processing facility, approximately 170km south of the Bellevue Gold Mine via the sealed Goldfields Highway. This will enable Bellevue to generate early cash flow in the September 2023 quarter ahead of scheduled processing at the Bellevue Gold Mine processing plant in the December 2023 quarter.
The Vanguard pit, where the cutback is underway, is currently being mined and stockpiled during the pre-production period at the Bellevue Gold Mine due to its location within the boundary of the tailings storage facility.
Waste material derived from pit mining is being used to build the tailings dam wall. Surface mining is progressing well with the surface mining contractor NRW Holdings making strong progress in both the construction of the tailings storage facility and mining of the open pit. Trucking and toll treating is expected to be completed in the September 2023 quarter.
Under the agreement, open pit material will be transported by MLG Oz Limited to Genesis’s Gwalia processing facility. Approximately 100,000t of ore, with an average grade of approximately ~3g/t gold, is planned to be processed as part of this agreement. The execution of the toll treating agreement will be NPV accretive to the project overall as the open pit material would otherwise remain on the stockpile until later in the mine life.
Construction of the Bellevue processing facility continues on schedule and on budget with the plant expected to be ready for commissioning with underground ore in the December 2023 quarter. Underground mine development also remains firmly on track with the fourth and final jumbo rig now on site and being commissioned.