Partners
With a 4-year finance facility from Macquarie Bank now in hand, the partners expect to begin construction as early as the first quarter of 2002.
Capital costs have been scaled back to US$33 million from US$38 million, owing to the acquisition of the Mt. Todd gold mine’s treatment plant in the Northern Territory.
Thunderbox is envisaged as an open-pit operation. Reserves are pegged at 10.9 million tonnes running 2.43 grams gold per tonne at an assumed gold price of US$254 per oz. and a cutoff grade of 0.7 gram for oxidized material and 1.1 grams for primary material.
Operators will treat 3.5 million tonnes of oxides in the first year, followed by 2 million tonnes of primary ore in each of the following four years. In all, the operation is expected to produce more than 800,000 oz. gold.
Conventional carbon-in-leach and elution circuits will follow single-stage crushing and semi-autogenous and ball-mill grinding. Recovery from oxide material is pegged at 96-98%; from primary material, 92-96%. Plant construction is expected to last nine months.
Cash costs over the life of the mine are pegged at US$157 per oz. (US$110 per oz. in the first year, owing to the higher grades and softness of the oxidized material).
Startup is slated for the fourth quarter of 2002. Gold hedging covering about half the production over the 5-year mine life has been completed through Macquarie Bank at a flat forward price of US$293 per oz. — about US$35 per oz. better than assumed in the bankable feasibility study.
Macquarie is also providing a cost overrun facility (if required), and a guarantee facility to provide statutory environmental bonds. The Macquarie facilities are secured only against the project and surrounding tenements.
Thunderbox is part of the Wildara joint venture. LionOre manages the joint venture, in which it has a 60% interest, with Dalrymple holding the remainder.
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