Auric boosts gold bounty 50% with bargain WA buy

Auric Mining has locked in the acquisition of its Union Jack gold project near Coolgardie in Western Australia, swelling its total mineral resource inventory by 51 per cent to 301,000 ounces of shallow, open-pittable resources.

The company has settled the purchase of the granted mining lease for a modest $6.5 million in cash and $3 million in shares, bringing the 102,000-ounce resource into its portfolio, just 15 kilometres from its planned Burbank processing hub.

The Union Jack resource currently stands at 3.12 million tonnes grading 1.02 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and comes with a history of solid drill hits, suggesting there could be plenty more at depth. Previous standout intercepts included a 17-metre hit running 4.57g/t from a shallow 24m and high-grade hits up to 5m going 12.21g/t gold from 56m.

With the deal now complete, Auric says it’s keen to get the drill bits turning, with an upcoming campaign of both infill and extensional drilling set for early next month.

The strategic importance of the acquisition is underscored by its short trucking distance from Auric’s planned Burbanks processing facility.

The company first picked up the 180,000-tonne-per-annum Burbanks plant, 20km south of Coolgardie, in late 2024 for the princely sum of just $4.4 million. Since then, it has firmed up plans to beef up the facility to 600,000tpa, sparking a hunt for the processing kit needed to deliver the expansion.

To that end, Auric recently pulled off yet another coup, snapping up a substantial package of processing infrastructure for the bargain-basement price of just $1.2 million. Management says buying equivalent new equipment would likely have cost between $15 million and $20 million, putting some serious daylight between the purchase price and replacement cost.

There was simply no way we could pass on such a strategic purchase, including adding to the ounces we already control in the region.

With the acquisition of Union Jack, Auric is piecing together a classic hub-and-spoke production model around its Coolgardie resources.

The company has already completed a successful starter pit campaign at its flagship Munda gold project, which tipped 8886 ounces of gold, generating $44.8 million in revenue. Planning for the larger Munda main pit is now underway, following recent successful drilling to expand the shallow resources.

The addition of Union Jack to Auric’s suite of Eastern Goldfields assets provides yet another potential ore source to feed the centralised Burbanks mill as the company looks to become a fully integrated WA mining house.

Auric looks to be steadily turning its proven hub-and-spoke strategy into an Eastern Goldfields success story. Cashed up from its first mining campaign, every new shallow ounce now adding weight to the model and Burbanks waiting at the centre of the wheel, the company is building the scale to turn a collection of gold deposits into something considerably bigger than the sum of its parts.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au