Bellevue Gold Limited has made the decision to review options to toll treat the anticipated ore stockpile at its Bellevue Gold Project in Western Australia ahead of commissioning the processing plant.
The forecast stockpile is set to exceed 200,000t at 5g/t gold, which will be partly the result of mining the planned Vanguard open pit that is set to commence in the first quarter of next year and will consist of ~100kt at >3.5g/t gold.
The mined Vanguard pit will then be transformed into the tailings dam for plant commissioning.
The decision was made in light of the progress being made on underground development, which is ahead of schedule at 6.7km, with the progress rate further enhanced with the delivery of a second jumbo in October 2022.
Mining is scheduled to start ore driving in the Upper Armand areas in November 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.
Bellevue Managing Director, Steve Parsons, said, “It is increasingly clear that we may have an opportunity to accelerate the start of cash flow due to the significant ore stockpile we expect to accumulate before plant commissioning gets underway.
“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 cash flow benefits.”
In addition to the rapid rate of underground development, plant construction is also advancing quickly, putting Bellevue on track for first production in the second half of CY2023.
The project remains well funded with $277.3 million of available liquidity as at 30 September 2022.
Significant de-risking of the plant construction has been achieved with the bulk earthworks that commenced in September 2022 now complete.
Critical path concrete pours are also complete, including ball mill raft, CIL ring beams and crusher pocket. Critical path and long lead items for the processing plant are under manufacture with key items starting to arrive in Perth.
“We are reaping the benefits of the decisions we made some time ago to order critical long-lead items early,” Mr Parsons said.
“This has helped us avoid supply chain disruptions and advance the de-risking process.
“We have been very progressive with our approach to the concept of sustainability and the focus on our people, culture and designing a project where people want to come and work.
“In conjunction with our mining contractor Develop Global Limited, we have also been very successful in recruiting and establishing a firstrate team.
“We have no doubt that this is due in part to the strength of the project and the strong emphasis on ESG.”
Featured image: An overview of processing plant works. Image: Bellevue Gold.
