Hard to disagree with you loki. I have read through the quarterly twice and.... it's a bloody minefield, with...a few glimmers of improvement woven in here and there. I know that WGX staff are working their asses off, the hard bit, is last year, WGX tried to do everything that once, whilst also acquiring an asset that needed even more work than their Murchison mines!
The biggest issue off the bat... is that by selling Lakewood, they have removed 1mt process capacity (still get to use 200kt for 2 years), which, roughly means they will produce at least 10k less ounces in FY26. Though... weirdly, the plant was basically operating at 850kt p.a...not the 1.2mtpa on the sticker
Then again... Higginsville is not running anywhere near it's 1.6mpta run rate either Just over 1.3mtpa... though they do discuss they are working on getting it up to 1.6mtpa...
Though it was the Murchison that really underperformed. Due to a litany of issues. Basically processed 550kt (2.2mtpa) combined at Tucka and Bluebird, yet.. their total capacity is 3.2mtpa... WGX has a lot of ore... and a lot of ounces.. but it cannot get them to the plants...instead continuing to rely on their stockpiles... which crazily, are barely profitable at even 5,000 AUD.
The talk about Bluebird needing even more infrastructure... to enable full ramp up, so... that means 3-6 months minimum. Luckily, WGX will be able to start mining ore from NMG in the Sept Q, though it won't be high grade for the first 6 months.
Big Bell.... who really knows.... but at 1.8g/t, it's... not very profitable. Hard to tell what they are going to do with it really. My guess is.... run it down, then... in a 1-2 years, go for the Deeps as a smaller operation.
I am down right puzzled about their Southern operations... Beta Hunt alone should be filling Higginsville, but... still a way off from that, so they are doing open pit mining and using Two Boys etc...
In the end, I just don't see how WGX is going to hit guidance, with no milling from Lakewood, even with an uplift in some of their mines. Need approx 92k ounces...
My bigger concern is... what WGX owes it's creditors... I had assumed they would be getting that under control, but instead it seems to still be ballooning upwards. The cash build... was literally only because of a rising gold price. Otherwise, WGX would have again made zero $$. The sale of Lakewood buys WGX time, but... they have not even started upgrading Higginsville. Guidance for FY26 is very hazy to say the least. WGX is very.... leveraged to POG.
Exploration continues to kick along, but... it's not the issue, the issue is... sort of crazy to think it's been a few years now since Wayne took the helm and WGX seems to be quite difficult to steer!
WGX Price at posting:
$2.95 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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