PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Western Australian gold producer Crescent Gold has extended its ore purchase agreement with gold major Barrick Gold by a further two years to four years.

Under the deal, Crescent transports 650 000 t of ore from its Laverton project to Barrick for processing, in each 50-day cycle, equating to more than 100 000 oz/y of gold.

Crescent MD Roland Hill said that the arrangement made economic sense for both parties.

“The economies of scale to both Crescent and Barrick present a rare win-win opportunity. Through the ore purchase agreement, Crescent has access to a world-class processing facility with spare capacity, right on our doorstep.”

Hill said that Crescent was significantly reducing its input costs by selling on the ore from the Laverton mine, instead of processing the ore itself.

He added that the extended agreement meant that Crescent had greater processing options for a longer period of time, and provided greater surety for the company’s shareholders, going forward.

The Laverton project has an estimated mineral resource and ore reserve of around 4,4-million tons, at 1,8 g/t gold, for 254 000 oz of contained gold.

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