Manuka Resources is on track to restart gold and silver production at its Wonawinta production facility in New South Wales in the second quarter of this year.
The company said it is working on bringing Cobar basin precious metal assets back online and advancing the Taranaki vanadium titanomagnetite (VTM) seabed mining project through the New Zealand fast-track approvals process.
Under a 10-year mine plan for the Cobar basin, Manuka is aiming for a production target of 10.9 million tonnes, comprising of 19 million ounces of silver from the Wonawinta open pits and 46,000 ounces of gold from the Mt Boppy open pit.
Manuka plans to restart the Wonawinta processing plan that is currently on active care and maintenance. The plan will undergo a six-month refurbishment and upgrade.
The restart costs for production are estimated at AU$18.9 million, including the addition of a deslime circuit to the Wonawinta processing plant to enhance performance.
Production will initially be sourced from existing silver and gold-bearing run-of-mine (ROM) stockpiles adjacent to the processing plant, before moving to open pit mining across the basin.
Gold ore from the Mt Boppy stockpiles will be hauled to the processing plant and blended with silver ore during the first two years of production to deliver a payable gold credit.
Manuka expects first production in the second quarter with steady state production by the late second quarter to early third quarter of the year.
Manuka’s Cobar Basin production plan will deliver average earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of about AU$106 million per year and a project NPV of AU$662 million.
Meanwhile, the company’s initial 20-year mine plan for its Taranaki VTM project is based on mining one billion tonnes of iron sands to produce 4.9 million tonnes per annum of VTM concentrate.
Mining for the first 13 years will focus on the Cook South block of the resource, which comprises 95 per cent of indicated resources.
Manuka expects a decision by March 18 from New Zealand’s fast track approvals process.
