Name of the Project
King of the Hills (KOTH) gold project.

Location
The Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
Gold producer Red 5.

Project Description
Red 5 has approved the final feasibility study for a proposed standalone, four-million-tonne-a-year bulk mining and processing operation at the KOTH, with an initial mine life of 16 years and the potential to expand this to six-million tonnes a year.

Life-of-mine production is estimated at 2.5-million ounces of contained gold.

Gold production in years 1 to 6 is expected to average 176 000 oz/y, while peak gold production of 203 000 oz/y will be achieved in 2024, benefiting from underground mining of one-million tonnes a year in years 1 to 4.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of A$1.1-billion and an internal rate of return of 64.3%, with a payback of 25 months and a gold price of A$2500/oz.

Capital Expenditure
The feasibility study has delivered a capital cost of about A$226-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First production is scheduled for the June quarter of 2022, with three months of mine prestrip.

Latest Developments
Red 5 has reported that its KOTH mine is progressing on schedule and within budget.

At the end of September, the overall project was about 65% complete, with key items under way.

Red 5 has also unveiled a new mine plan for the Darlot operations as part of its KOTH processing hub strategy, which is premised on the scale, efficiency and low-cost base of the processing plant it is building at KOTH. This will allow for the Darlot underground mine to transition to an additional medium-term, high-grade feed source for KOTH from the June 2022 quarter.

In future, the KOTH processing hub will be supplied with three ore sources – the KOTH openpit, KOTH underground and Darlot underground. This will further derisk the KOTH ramp-up and also alleviate labour force pressures, given the transfer of the company’s highly skilled Darlot surface team to KOTH, MD Mark Williams has said.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Red 5, tel +61 8 9322 4455 or email info@red5limited.com.