CATALYST METALS LIMITED New management team driving initiatives at the
- Significantly improved month-on-month operating results at the
Plutonic Gold Mine - Performance culminated in 6,694oz produced in September
- September quarter results show an increase across all key operating metrics when compared against the prior 18 months to
June 2023 :- 17% increase in gold produced
- 37% increase in ore processed
- 24% increase in material movement
- 23% increase in underground development metres
- 17% increase in gold produced
- New management team delivering results – see announcement dated
20 Sept 2023 - Importantly, the key leading performance indicators of underground development meters and material movement have increased considerably to record highs
- New equipment ordered, arriving
October 2023 ; these quarterly results achieved with existing fleet; the injection of new equipment is expected to improve performance and consistency of operations - Investor webinar at
8am AWST /11am AEDST today to discuss results. Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/323063338739750486
Catalyst took control of the
Immediately after acquiring Plutonic, Catalyst set about stabilising the mine and its workforce. Managing Director & CEO,
The transition team was led by the highly experienced team of
The engagement with the team at Plutonic has been positive. Plutonic has a highly capable workforce, some with long histories at the site. These first quarter results under Catalyst's ownership demonstrate a broad buy-in of the operating strategy by the workforce beyond just the senior management. It also shows that these early changes are yielding positive results.
Catalyst's Managing Director & CEO,
"We're thrilled with the team's first quarterly results. Improvements such as these do not come easily. They are months in the planning.
We're buoyed by the improved month-on-month performance over the quarter. It indicates a trend forming in a positive direction for the mine's key performance indicators.
Catalyst has installed a high calibre management team who are driving cultural and behavioural changes and we are seeing the first demonstrable signs that strategy is working.
"Obviously, these quarterly results are a considerable improvement on the mine's past performance. The task we have set ourselves at Plutonic is delivering consistent results, quarter-in, quarter-out. We believe we are a small, focussed team, very determined to meet this objective."
Catalyst completed the consolidation of the Plutonic Gold Belt on
With the shareholders vote out of the way, Catalyst then went about installing a transition team that would focus its efforts on the underground mine. After spending the month of July, watching the operations and getting to know the people and mine site, the transition team spent August and September systematically working through the issues identified. Such changes were focused on increasing equipment availability, appropriately staffing cross shifts, filling truck to nameplate capacity, sourcing a higher percentage of stopes for the month from larger stopes and thereby mining fewer stopes a month while still achieving the same ore tonnes.
The consequence of these, and other, changes resulted in key performance indicators lifting across the mine site.
Comfortingly, these results have been achieved with the existing fleet.
While Catalyst has ordered new equipment, it is not expected to arrive on site until
Table 1: September quarter monthly metrics compared to 18-month average to
Metric | 18-month average to June | September quarter | Variance |
Development metres (m) | 585 | 719 | +23 % |
Drilling metres (m) | 12,517 | 18,405 | +47 % |
Ore processed (t) | 71,145 | 97,305 | +37 % |
Material movement (t) | 95,530 | 118,368 | +24 % |
Gold produced (oz) | 4,857 | 5,678 | +17 % |
The Plutonic mill has significant excess mill capacity. The site is mine constrained, not mill constrained. Previous owners sought to fill that latent mill capacity with mineralised waste (<0.5 g/t Au) from various sources. Catalyst sees this material as uneconomic and as such needed to find an alternate ore source to replace the mineralised waste. This ore source was found in additional underground stope tonnes from the Plutonic mine.
Catalyst's longer term operating strategy, the
Catalyst believes this strategy will allow it to significantly increase gold production and lower costs. Ultimately, Catalyst believes it will become a 200koz gold producer.
The first project to be developed on the belt is expected to be Trident, a deposit with a Mineral Resource of 400koz at 8g/t and lying 25km immediately north of the Plutonic processing plant. All infrastructure to develop Trident is already in place.
Catalyst has received approvals to construct early works and a decline for Trident.
Catalyst's recently released scoping study on Trident (
Table 2: Trident Scoping Study outputs
Operational outputs | ||
NPV (5%) | A$m | 245 |
IRR | % | 132 % |
Pre-production capital | A$m | 36 |
Payback (yrs) | Yrs | 1 |
AISC | A$/oz | 1,046 |
LOM | yrs | 4.3 |
LOM grade | g/t Au | 6.7 |
LOM gold production | oz | 229,521 |
Average annual gold production | oz | 57,005 |
Average annual free cashflow | A$m | 82 |
This announcement has been approved for release by the Board of Directors of
It owns the 40km long Plutonic Gold Belt in Western Australia hosting the Plutonic gold mine and neighbouring underexplored, high-grade resources.
It also owns and operates the high-grade Henty Gold Mine in Tasmania which lies within the 25km Henty gold belt. Production to date is 1.4Moz @ 8.9 g/t.
Catalyst also controls +75km of strike length immediately north of the +22Moz Bendigo goldfield and home to high-grade, greenfield resources at Four Eagles.
Shares o/s: 219m
Options: 1.4m
Rights: 2.5m
Cash: $31.8m
Debt: $32.8m
Interim Non-Executive Chairman
Managing Director & CEO
Non-Executive Director
ASX: CYL
E:admin@catalystmetals.com.au
W:catalystmetals.com.au
T: +61 8 6107 5878
JORC 2012 Mineral Resources and Reserves
Catalyst confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcements and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant market announcements continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Persons findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcements.
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