PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold developer Bellevue has announced plans to raise up to A$70-million to further derisk its namesake gold project, in Western Australia.

The ASX-listed company will undertake a share placement to raise an initial A$60-million under its existing placement capacity. The fully underwritten placement will be priced at A$1.05 a share, and shares will be issued to eligible institutional, sophisticated and professional investors.

Under a share purchase plan (SPP), Bellevue is hoping to raise a further A$10-million. The SPP will open on December 14 and close on January 13.

Bellevue told shareholders that in addition to existing cash reserves, proceeds from the capital raised would be used to accelerate underground development and exploration at the Bellevue gold project, further derisking the production outlook and increasing financial flexibility during construction and ramp-up.

The accelerated development will allow the company to accelerate between 4 000 m and 5 000 m of underground development to open additional production fronts and derisk post-production run-rate, reducing development costs during ramp-up, while also fast-tracking the independent Tribune mining front earlier than scheduled.

Additionally, the funds raised would also fund grade control drilling to improve geological confidence and to provide additional balance sheet flexibility to commercial production.

“Every aspect of the project is going to plan or better. Development rates, grade control drilling results and exploration are all exceeding our expectations,” said Bellevue MD Steve Parsons.

“The success is providing us with an opportunity to unlock the value of the project sooner and to a greater extent than originally planned. This additional funding will enable us to capitalise on this opportunity by bringing forward some of the underground development, de-risking the production outlook in the process.

“It will also ensure we have a robust level of working capital as we ramp up production,” he added.

First production at Bellevue is scheduled for the second half of 2023 and ramp-up is expected to take two months from the first production. Capital costs remaining on the project are estimated at A$219-million, after incorporating additional accelerated underground development capital.

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