Ramelius Resources has shipped first ore from the Never Never deposit at Dalgaranga in Western Australia and announced a major reduction of its gold hedge commitments.
A total of 31,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 3.6 grams per tonne for 3,600 tonnes was available for haulage at the end of January to the Mt Magnet processing plant.
Ramelius now plans to blend the lower grade development ore from Never Never with other Mt Magnet ore hub ore sources.
Higher-grade Never Never stockpiles will be introduced into production in the June quarter once fine-tuning has occurred at the Mt Magnet plant.
Ramelius Managing Director Mark Zeptner said: “Since finalising our combination with Spartan Resources in July 2025, we have been focused on delivering the first Never Never ore to the Mt Magnet production hub in accordance with our five-year growth pathway.”
Ramelius has now closed-out the fiscal 2027 gold forward contracts and committed to pre-deliver June 2026 quarter forward contract in the March quarter.
The cost of closing out the forward contracts was AU$28.4 million, which will be recognised as an expense in the March quarter.
As of March 31, the company will have no forward contracts pending, which is estimated to reduce revenue by AU$47.5 million in the March quarter.
“At this important juncture, we have also elected to close out our fiscal 2027 gold forward contract hedge book and pre-deliver June 2026 quarter contracts in this March 2026 quarter.
“By doing this, we will have increased exposure to the strong gold price,” Zeptner said.
The company is aiming to boost the Mt Magnet production hub to 380,000 ounces as part of its strategy to become a 500,000-ounce producer by fiscal 2030.
