Austral toughs out ‘a land of flooding rains’ financial year

Austral Resources has bounced back after a tough second quarter writ large by flooding rains. The company came within 25 tonnes of their half yearly production target of 5,000 tonnes despite production challenges said Austral’s Managing Director and CEO, Dan Jauncey. “Our copper sales of 2,250 tonnes in the June quarter generated a net revenue of A$27.3 million, with operating cash flow amounting to A$9.1 million,” Mr Jauncey said. “Additionally, we achieved a net mine cash flow of A$2.4 million, considering one-off stripping costs of A$6.69 million. These financial results reflect our operational efficiency,” he said. CEO Austral Resoruces Dan Jauncey “Our accelerated pre-strip of East Pit Stage 2 was a crucial step towards securing the optionality of accessing three ore bodies. “This strategic move will de-risk our mining operations before the next wet season and for the remainder of the mining campaign. Main image: Anthill crushing circuit “Moreover, it will significantly reduce mining costs as the strip ratio for each pit will decrease significantly.” In its June quarterly activity report the company told the ASX that copper production of 2,315 tonnes was down 13 percent quarter on quarter at an All In Sustaining Cost of US$3.05/lb Cu sold. This was due primarily to a reduced total ore stacked for processing, impacted by the severe wet weather event in the previous quarter causing numerous road closures and a planned mill shutdown completed in March for mill line replacement. Related: Austral adds Lady Maggie to its copper kingdom Progress on Anthill East Pit Moves had been taken to future-proof the Anthill operation the company told the ASX. Accelerated Pre-Strip operation of East Pit Stage two would help ensure the Company’s Anthill mining operation had the option of accessing three ore bodies. This would de-risk the mining operation prior to the next wet season and for the next two years, would reduce mining costs as the strip ratio for each pit would decrease significantly, the company said. Austral outlined its growth forecasts saying the Lady Colleen Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) was progressing well ‘with metallurgical test-work underway to materialise annual production increase to over 25,000 tonnes of Cu per annum combined with the existing production from Anthill, confirmed by the recent scoping study from CSA Global.’ ‘Optimisation studies, conducted by CSA Global, on previously mined high-grade pits (Lady Annie, Lady Brenda, Mount Clarke, and Flying Horse) have confirmed a potential additional ~94,000 tonnes of Cu to be mined by the Company in the next two to five years.’

Austral toughs out ‘a land of flooding rains’ financial year

Industry Queensland

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