Ausgold Ltd.’s Katanning Gold project (KGP) has been selected for the Western Australian government’s new priority approvals program.
The program enables cross-sectoral management of approvals across state government agencies.
Ausgold’s general manager for permitting and approvals, Troy Collie said the initiative will expedite the processing of applications.
“We certainly see the KGP as a high-profile project and we welcome it being deemed a priority.
“This new measure, together with significant progress achieved at the federal level in recent months, supports our goal of making a final investment decision in the June quarter of next year,” Collie said.
The priority approvals program seeks to assist proponents through every stage of Western Australia’s approvals assessment process, including facilitating parallel processing of applications through different state agencies through an appointed senior case manager as a single point of contact.
Ausgold has also lodged a referral with Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority for Katanning Gold. The referral is a key approval required for the development of the project.
The company has also made significant progress at the federal level, with Katanning Gold being assessed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water at a level of “Assessment on Preliminary Documentation”.
As part of the assessment process, the DCCEEW has requested further fauna survey work. Ausgold said ecological survey crews have been working on the requested information so that the company can respond to the regulator by the first quarter of 2026.
Ausgold aims to finalise key contracts and financing agreements for Katanning Gold by the second quarter of 2026.