Tassie mine acquisition turns Kaiser into multi-asset gold producer

Since completing its Tasmanian Henty gold mine acquisition in mid-May, Kaiser Reef has processed 35,853 dry tonnes of ore gold at a head grade of 4.05g/t for 4069 ounces of gold, transforming it into a multi-asset gold producer.

Kaiser is bedding the Henty operation down nicely, achieving an 87.1 per cent metallurgical recovery rate in its first 1.5 months of ownership. And a quick look at the operation’s recovery history suggests there may be room for further recovery gains.

In 2021, then-owner Catalyst Metals reported an average 94.5 per cent recovery rate at Henty. Before Catalyst took over, the mine had an average metallurgical recovery rate of 76.1 per cent.

Catalyst attributed its significant improvement to an improved process plant leach environment including optimised cyanide levels, while retaining a low tails grade of 0.27g/t gold.

This has been a landmark quarter for Kaiser, headlined by the acquisition of the Henty gold mine in Tasmania, a profitable production centre with at least a 5-year mine life, based on reserves, and fantastic exploration potential.

Kaiser Reef is a high-grade gold mining and exploration company with a focus on mining and exploring for gold in Tasmania and the Victorian goldfields, which have a long and storied mining history.

Downes said that with the Henty acquisition, Kaiser’s transformation into a three-gold project operation, including two operational mines and two processing plants, had combined with the current stellar gold price environment to give the company its single biggest quarter of production.

In addition to Henty, Kaiser owns and operates the A1 gold mine, the Maldon gold mine in Victoria, which is on care and maintenance, and the Maldon gold processing plant.

Gold processed and reconciled at Kaiser Reef’s Maldon plant between April 1 and June 30, including feed from the A1 gold mine and third-party purchases, amounted to 10,918 dry tonnes at a head grade of 2.42g/t gold for 756.3 ounces of gold, for an 89 per cent recovery rate.

Reconciled gold mined from the A1 gold mine in that time totalled 4262 dry tonnes at a 4.03g/t head grade for 551.7 ounces of gold mined.

For the first 10 days of Henty ownership, Kaiser reported a record gold pour of about 1200 ounces, leading to the company’s estimated combined operations production rate of about 30,000 ounces of gold per year.

The Henty acquisition has positioned Kaiser as a multi-asset gold producer with significant growth potential. The operation is endowed with an estimated 449,000-ounce mineral resource at 3.4g/t gold, with 88 per cent classified in the measured and indicated categories.

Its current ore reserves of 154,000 ounces at 4g/t gold give the current show an operational mine life of more than five years, with upside for future reserves from conversion of resources and future exploration.

It will be interesting to see how things shape up for Kaiser when Henty production really comes on-song over the next few months of continuous processing and when its A1 mine transitions from its development phase to full production.

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