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 for the project 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 unveiled plans to transition its Darlot underground mine into an additional medium-term, high-grade feed source for the KOTH processing plant.

“Following an exhaustive review of the Darlot operation, we are pleased to announce a new streamlined mine production plan for Darlot, based on trucking and processing the ore at our new KOTH processing plant as part of what we are now referring to as our KOTH processing hub strategy,” MD Mark Williams has said.

Williams told delegates at the Diggers & Dealers conference, in Australia, on August 2, that Red 5 would take advantage of significant latent capacity in the KOTH mill, meaning that no additional capital investment would be required for the strategy.

About 700 000 t/y of ore will be sourced from the Darlot operation, with a further four-million tonnes a year coming from the KOTH operation, ramping-up KOTH mill capacity to 4.7-million tonnes a year.

Production at Darlot in 2022 is guided at between 62 000 oz and 72 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of A$2 300/oz to A$2 400/oz. With the future implementation of Darlot ore processing at KOTH, Red 5 is targeting to reduce Darlot’s all-in sustaining cost to between A$1 700/oz and A$1 900/oz in 2023.

“The metallurgy of the KOTH-Darlot ore blend is well understood, as we have been processing these combined ores at Darlot for some years. This allows for the seamless integration of Darlot underground ore into our future milling and production plans at KOTH, providing an additional high-grade ore feed in the early phases of the production ramp-up,” Williams noted.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

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