PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior gold miner St Barbara has divested of its King of the Hills mine and the Kailis resource, in Western Australia, to fellow-listed gold miner Saracen Mineral Holdings for A$3-million.
The King of the Hills project ceased mining in April and was subsequently placed on care and maintenance.
Saracen told shareholders on Thursday that both the King of the Hills gold project and the Kailis resource were within trucking distance of the company’s own Thunderbox plant.
The A$65-million Thunderbox operation would deliver 597 000 oz of gold, over an initial mine life of four-and-a-half years during Stage 1. Stages 2 and 3 of the project would have the potential to expand production to more than one-million ounces over an eight-year mine life, at a production rate of 126 000 oz/y.
Saracen noted that the acquisition of King of the Hill and Kailis would increase the mineral resource within trucking distance of the Thunderbox plant by some 20%, to 2.4-million ounces.
The first A$300 000 of the transaction fee would be payable on the completion of the transaction, with the balance due either at the start of commercial production at Kailis, or four years after the completion date.