Price oversaw nearly 30 deals over five years at Phoenix as the minnow consolidated ground and resources in the Mungari area – and specifically along the highly-prospective Zuleika and Kunanalling shear structures – west of Kalgoorlie. Leading Australian mid-tier gold miner Evolution, which, it’s fair to say, has far bigger hopes and plans for the district, took Phoenix out in a A$75 million (US$54 million) takeover duel with China’s Zijin late last year.

Not far to the north-north-east is Teal, which now has a JORC mineral resource of about 840,000 tonnes grading 2.67 grams per tonne (71,747oz), including about 25,000oz at 3.44gpt in oxide and transitional material that is seen as easy to mine and could net Intermin a small pile of cash in the first half of next year subject to it finalising mining and milling arrangements in the interim.

Intermin also has significant landholdings and a resource base at Goongarie and the historic gold-mining centre of Menzies, 135km north of Kalgoorlie, where it wants to locate a processing plant and pursue a strategy of opening up small, high-grade underground and openpit mines in and around previously worked deposits. Price says the company also sees production-funded exploration and consolidation along the “Kalgoorlie-to-Menzies corridor” as cornerstones of a bigger development picture for Intermin.

The company had a market cap this week of about A$19 million, and $2.3 million cash in the bank.

Price said this was enough for the company to move Teal to a production footing by early next year, with a “hybrid contractor alliance” similar to that pursued by other small miners key to low ($4-5 million) development costs which would be borne by a contractor. That includes equipment supply and capital. Profit on a plus-20,000oz haul would be split between the parties.

With the current availability of surplus equipment around the industry, and generally low cost environment, coupled with the free-digging nature of oxide ore and minimal overburden removal, mining costs could be sub-$4/bcm. Oxide ore gold recoveries have been put at 94%.

At current gold prices Teal’s phase-one output could generate $7-8 million of free cash for Intermin, with that estimate a preliminary one at this stage.

“We don’t pay anything until the first gold is produced,” Price said.

The company head wants to meet forecasts and performance expectations for Teal before talking up Intermin’s bigger plans.

But the fact that the company has engaged brokers and advisors for future corporate development steps probably says enough right now.

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