LEADERSHIP

Geopacific moves to next stage in PNG

Geopacific completes due diligence at Woodlark Island

Kristie Batten
Geopacific moves to next stage in PNG

After announcing the $18.65 million agreement in July, Geopacific had up to six months to spend as much as $650,000 on due diligence to earn an initial 5%.

The company completed the initial phase and will now move to a more intensive stage, whereby it is required to spend up to $8 million over two years to achieve a 1.2 million ounce reserve.

That would give the project a 10-year mine life at 120,000oz per annum.

Completing stage two would give Geopacific 51%, though if it spends the money and does not achieve the 1.2Moz reserve, it will hold 40%.

Geopacific can move to 60-75% by spending up to $10 million and achieving “bankable” status at the project.

Woodlark has a current resource of 45.1 million tonnes at 1.5 grams per tonne gold for 2.12Moz gold.

The 2012 feasibility study envisaged a nine-year life at capital costs of more than $200 million for a payback period of four years, but more work will be required to improve economics.

Geopacific is planning to conduct limited infill drilling with the aim of converting a portion of the 800,000oz inferred resource into the measured and indicated categories.

That work will assist in converting resources to reserves and improving the project economics.

Geopacific managing director Ron Heeks said the massive upside potential of the project became more evident during a recent site visit.

“Everything about the trip was positive and we’ve had nothing but support from government and community members that we’ve dealt with in PNG and on Woodlark,” he said.

“We look forward to commencing development drilling and delivering Woodlark along the development path into production.”

Geopacific is well-funded after recently raising $15 million.

Shares in the company were untraded at 3.6c, while Kula was unchanged at 2.9c.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Company ESG Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The Mining Company ESG Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2024: Net Zero

Gain insights into decarbonisation trends and strategies from interviews with 20+ top mining executives and experts plus an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Project Pipeline Handbook 2024

View our 50 top mining projects, handpicked using a unique, objective selection process from a database of 450+ global assets.

editions

MiningNews.net Research Report 2024

Access a multi-pronged tool to identify critical risks and opportunities in Australia’s mining industry.