Tropicana gold mine partners Regis Resources (ASX: RRL) and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU; JSE: ANG) are going ahead with the A$114-million (US$76 million) Havana underground project in Western Australia.
The mine, located beneath the active Havana open pit, will become the third underground asset at the Tropicana gold complex. Production is expected to start in the third quarter of the 2027 financial year and will gradually increase overall output, with the most significant impact occurring between 2027 and 2029, Regis said on Monday.
“The approval of the Havana underground project is further demonstration of the underground growth optionality across Tropicana,” Regis managing director and CEO Jim Beyer said. “[It] provides us with further confidence in the long-term future of Tropicana’s underground growth and it demonstrates the positive impact any additional underground growth can have on value.”
Shares in Regis Resources closed 1.1% lower on Monday in Sydney at A$1.76 apiece, valuing the company at A$1.3 billion. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of A$1.44 to A$2.33. AngloGold Ashanti’s stock was about flat in New York on Monday morning at US$28.49 for a market capitalization of US$12 billion. They’ve touched US$14.91 and US$32.57 in the past year.
US$23M-spend
The company, which is Australia’s third-largest gold producer listed on the ASX, said its 30% share in the project will require a capital expenditure of A$34 million (US$23 million).
This investment is expected to result in an incremental production of 55,000 oz. of gold to Regis’s production profile, it said.
The news is a welcome boost for Regis, which last month had to write down the value of its McPhillamys gold and silver project in New South Wales after a federal government decision made it “unviable.”
The Tropicana asset comprises four known mineralized zones, which include Boston Shaker, Tropicana, Havana and Havana South.
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