This is what matters IMHO, apart from sorting finance fully and trading on the ASX again very soon. Fingers crossed...
Highlights
High grade ore zones accessed from November (M4 pit) and December (Galaxy pit) will continue to provide high grade feed during 2018, underpinning anticipated high grade production and positive cash flows 137kt of high grade ore @ 1.6g/t mined from M4 and Galaxy pits during December, with a total of 8,038oz of gold mined for the month being marginally less than the entire September quarter.
Record milled tonnes of 443kt during the December quarter, with plant recovery increasing to 92.3% (379kt and 91.5% in September 2017 quarter). Current throughput levels are expected to be maintained going forward
Record weekly gold production of 1,685oz achieved in last week of December at an average mill feed grade of 1.5g/t Au
Commenced building high grade stockpiles with 51kt @ 1.6 g/t Au as at 31 December 2017, which is expected to continue to grow
Significant reduction in waste material mined in the quarter, leading to reduced open pit mining costs. Strip ratio for remaining oxide reserves is expected to reduce to 7:1 (wastere) from 16.5:1 in first half FY18, providing a step change in project economics
Both the Galaxy and M4 pits have been grade control drilled to the base of the design pits, supporting 76% of the next six month’s gold production
Current reserves and mine plan support 3.5 years of free milling ore operations targeting gold production of ~250koz, with further extensions and targets being pursued
Drilling to focus on identifying additional oxide mineralisation as well as increasing the 1.2Moz of gold reserves (currently 15Mt @ 2.5g/t) by converting more of the Company’s very large resource base (65Mt @ 3.1g/t for 6.5Moz) to reserves
BLK Price at posting:
10.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held