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Goldman Reserve upgrade includes new Westralia estimate and underpins long-term production growth strategy
Genesis Minerals Limited (ASX:GMD) has reported a 12% increase in total Reserves after depletion, lifting its Group Ore Reserves to 3.7 million ounces (Moz) as at 31 December 2024. The upgrade includes a maiden 370,000oz Reserve for the Westralia open pit, which is currently excluded from the company’s 10-year production outlook.
Group Reserves now total 54 million tonnes (Mt) at 2.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 3.7Moz, up from 3.3Moz a year earlier. The increase comes after accounting for 170,000oz of mining depletion.
The newly included Westralia Reserve—located 15km from the Laverton mill—was acquired as part of Genesis’ $140 million acquisition of Dacian Gold in 2022. The Reserve estimate was prepared using robust and conservative benchmarks, specifically applying Genesis’ bulk open-pit method.
Westralia remains open to the north and at depth, offering substantial exploration upside. Its proximity to Laverton gives Genesis optionality to process ore at either the Laverton or Leonora plants, boosting operational flexibility.
Genesis continues to base its Group Reserve estimates on a gold price of A$2,800/oz.
The company’s processing capacity has now reached 4.4Mtpa, including the recently upgraded 1.1Mtpa Laverton mill. Genesis reports it has 10 years of processing capacity supported by a 65Mt Production Target. Key processing figures include:
- Leonora mill: 1.4Mtpa; Total 37.1Mt, equal to ~26 years (excluding 0.1Mt surface ore stockpiles)
- Laverton mill: 3.0Mtpa; Total 29.8Mt, equal to ~10 years (plus 3.2Mt surface ore stockpiles)
Genesis Managing Director Raleigh Finlayson said:
The strong growth in Reserves not only bolsters our current 10-year production outlook but also highlights the growing potential to accelerate the planned increases in the production rate.
Increasing Reserves is a key step towards realising our “ASPIRE 400” growth objective, with the cost reductions and increased cashflows which would follow.
The scope to accelerate the production growth strategy is shown by the maiden Reserve at the Westralia open pit, which already stands at 370,000oz and clearly has substantial upside.
Westralia is currently excluded from the 10-year production outlook, but we are continuing to drill it with the aim of de-risking plus growing the Reserves while progressing the various mining studies and assessing the development and milling options.
Our 10-year production outlook is comfortably underpinned. In fact, our published Production Target plus surface ore stockpiles are sufficient to fill the Leonora mill for 26 years and our Laverton mill for 10 years.
Along with the strong infill drilling results received recently from other key deposits, including Admiral, Hub and Bruno-Lewis, we are achieving our core strategic goals in respect to growing the Reserves, ensuring our production forecasts are underpinned by very robust models and maximising our ability to bring forward the planned increases in the production rate.
These are the foundations of our commitment to be a reliable, sustainable and growing gold producer which can fully leverage our team, assets and infrastructure.
