PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold developer Bellevue Gold is looking at toll treating options for the anticipated ore stockpile at its namesake project in Western Australia, ahead of commissioning of the process plant.

The ASX-listed company on Wednesday said that the decision to review toll treating options was made on the back of strong progress at the underground development, which is tracking ahead of schedule.

“It is increasingly clear that we may have an opportunity to accelerate the start of cashflow due to the significant ore stockpile we expect to accumulate before plant commissioning gets underway,” said MD Steve Parsons.

“We are now studying options for toll treating in the region and considering the benefits this scenario could deliver for our cash position. We may also have the option of accelerating mine development given the outstanding progress made to date. However, the cost of this strategy would need to be more than offset by the immediate cashflow benefits.”

Mining is scheduled to start ore driving in the Upper Armand areas this month which will in turn increase the number of available headings and increase development rates. Sequential opening up of the five independent work areas is on track, with Armand reached in late July and Bellevue South scheduled for early 2023.

The forecast stockpile is set to exceed 200 000 t at 5 g/t gold, which will be partly the result of mining the planned Vanguard openpit that is set to start in the first quarter of next year and will consist of nearly 100 000 t at more than 3.5 g/t gold. The mined Vanguard pit will then be transformed into the tailings dam for plant commissioning.

Bellevue told shareholders that in addition to the rapid rate of underground development, plant construction is also advancing quickly, putting the company on track for first production in the second half of 2023.

The project remains well funded with A$277.3-million of available liquidity as at the end of September.

"We are reaping the benefits of the decisions we made some time ago to order critical long-lead items early. This has helped us avoid supply chain disruptions and advance the derisking process,” said Parsons.

During the first 12 months of commercial production, the Bellevue project is forecast to produce between 180 000 oz to 200 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of A$1 000/oz to A$1 100/oz.

Production for the first five years of mine life is forecast to average 200 000 oz/y at an all-in sustaining cost of A$1 000/oz to A$1 100/oz. Bellevue expects pre-tax free cashflow to average A$254-million yearly for the first five years of production.