Dacian Gold Limited (Dacian Gold) has announced a new CEO and operating strategy, following a “rapid change of the operating environment over the past six months” leading to inflationary cost pressures.
The change in strategic direction has led General Manager for Geology and Exploration, Dale Richards, to be appointed as the new CEO. Leigh Junk, Managing Director, has resigned.
Dacian Gold has suspended mining at its Laverton, Western Australian, Mt Morgans site, and open pit mining operations at Jupiter will be suspended on 22 June.
Other operating changes include:
- Underground operations to continue until the previously developed stopes have been mined in Q1, FY23
- Open pit mining at Hub at Redcliffe will commence later in FY23 when mining approvals are received
- Processing of existing stockpiles totalling ~5.0Mt will commence in Q1, FY23
- Drill testing to focus on Jupiter following continued encouraging results.
Processing of existing stockpiles allows Dacian Gold to continue milling operations during FY23 while it pivots towards exploration and development under a new leaner operating model that reduces its cost base with the expectation mining operations will recommence in the future.
Dacian Gold will continue to drill its Jupiter and high-priority exploration targets during FY23. The company forecasts cash and gold-on-hand of approximately $17 million at 30 June 2022, after the $12.75 million bank debt repayment.
The Hub mining proposal was submitted for approval in January 2022, and remains to be approved.
Non-Executive Chair, Mick Wilkes, said the decision to reset Dacian Gold’s strategy and discontinue the current Mt Morgans open dit was due to the high inflationary environment.
“We are pivoting to exploration and a focus on the significant potential we see beneath and alongside the Jupiter open pits. This along with the strategic value of our processing facilities and infrastructure in the Laverton Leanora gold belt underpins [Dacian Gold].”
“On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Leigh for his significant contribution to [Dacian Gold] over the past three years and wish him well for the future. I would also like to welcome Dale as the incoming CEO and look forward to working closely with him to unlock the potential of the Mt Morgans operation.”
Mt Morgans has a large operating processing facility with significant replacement value in the current, high cost environment, substantial existing stockpiles, an expanded suite of development projects, an attractive land position with numerous, compelling drill targets, a multi-million ounce resource base and, importantly, substantially debt free.
