Burbanks already has all of those pieces of the puzzle in place, including a permit to expand the operation’s capacity, four granted mining leases and 10 granted infrastructure leases.
Notably, the mining leases are also close to mineralised ground already held by local miner and fellow ASX-listed junior Horizon Minerals, which could potentially lead to mutually beneficial discussions between both companies further down the road.
Auric Mining managing director Mark English said: “The plant has name plate production of 180,000 tonnes per annum, is ideally located and – most importantly – has all the key infrastructure and approvals in place to fast-track Auric towards becoming a fully integrated sustainable gold producer in the heart of the Goldfields with complete control over our production.”
English points out Auric has always firmly believed in the tenet that “money is made when you buy” – and that buying quality assets at depressed valuations makes outsized value creation more probable.
The company managed to live up to those beliefs when buying the unloved Jeffreys Find gold mine for $1.4m cash a few years ago and turning it into an asset which it says is expected to generate more than 10 times the purchase price in free cash.
It appears to have also employed the same rinse and repeat philosophy to its newest gold mining operation at Munda near Widgiemooltha in WA, which is expected to initially produce 6100 ounces of gold by toll treating ore from a starter pit before moving onto a bigger 145,000-ounce resource at site.
With the purchase of Burbanks at a heavily discounted price, it looks as if the company may have set itself up to do it again. And the market certainly appears to think that too, pushing the Auric share price 14 per cent higher to 36c today on strong turnover.
The well-worn but appropriate reference to “literally sitting on a gold mine” has never been truer than in the current high gold price environment, but it seems Auric has taken the idiom to heart by buying the processing plant as well.
With the acquisition of Burbanks, Auric has secured a valuable asset at a discounted price and has laid the foundation for long-term growth in Australia’s gold-rich Coolgardie region.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
