Investor Insight
Horizon Minerals’ near-term cash-flow potential and its significant land package in the prolific Western Australian goldfields with considerable exploration upside position the company to positively leverage the current bull gold market opportunity.
Overview
Horizon Minerals (ASX:HRZ) is an ASX-listed emerging mid-tier gold mining company focusing on a portfolio of highly promising gold projects located in the world-class Western Australian goldfields. The recent merger with Greenstone has added nearly 0.5 million ounces (Moz) of high-grade resource to Horizon, taking its total tally to 1.8 Moz, and resulted in Horizon Minerals total land package of 939 sq km in the Kalgoorlie-Coolgardie district.
The merger brings near-term cash-generating opportunities and adds greater scale to its baseload assets (Boorara) with the high-grade Burbanks deposit. Horizon’s dual-track strategy involves generating immediate cash flows by leveraging a pipeline of development-ready production assets and concurrently advancing the cornerstone assets, Boorara and Burbanks, which have a combined resource inventory of 914 koz at 1.7 grams per ton (g/t) gold with potential to support a profitable, long-life operation.
The recent ore sale agreement with Paddington Gold is encouraging and increases confidence in the management’s ability to generate near-term cash flows. Under the agreement, 1.4 million (Mt) will be processed over a period of 22 months. The agreement allows Horizon to capitalize on high gold prices to generate significant cash flows.
Horizon is also progressing with other projects, including the Cannon gold project and Penny’s Find underground mine, and actively exploring for new discoveries in the Western Australian Goldfields, targeting gold and other commodities such as nickel-cobalt, silver-zinc, PGEs and lithium across its extensive land holdings. Additionally, Horizon holds a significant stake in one of the world’s largest vanadium projects via its investment in Richmond Vanadium Technology, which is listed on the ASX.
Horizon proposes to acquire 100 percent of Poseidon via an all-scrip transaction for AU$30 million to consolidate 1.8Moz gold and highly strategic processing infrastructure for Horizon to transition to the next standalone WA gold producer. The acquisition will combine Horizon’s large gold resource and Poseidon’s Black Swan processing infrastructure in the Kalgoorlie-Coolgardie districts. The transaction will further result in substantial resource base and regional tenure to a combined JORC mineral resources of ~1.8Moz gold at an average grade of 1.84g/t gold and 422,700t nickel at an average grade of 1 percent nickel. Horizon and Poseidon will have a total of 1,309 sq. km. tenure in an attractive geological position in the WA Goldfields.
Horizon aims to become a sustainable, 100kozpa standalone producer following the merger and conversion and recommissioning of the Black Swan processing plant. The 2.2Mtpa processing facility is strategically located 40 km north of Kalgoorlie with a concentrator readily amenable to processing gold through cost-effective refurbishment and the addition of a new CIL circuit.
Horizon’s 30Mt existing gold resources, with 50,000 metres of drilling fully funded to commence drilling in 2025 or 2026, strongly support the conversion of the Black Swan processing plant to a gold plant.
Company Highlights
Horizon Minerals is an emerging mid-tier gold producer with an extensive portfolio of highly promising gold projects located in the world-class Western Australian goldfields.Mineral resource updates after the merger include 1.8Moz gold, 20.2Moz silver, 104kt zinc, 283kt nickel, 40.5kt cobalt and 296.2kt manganese. Changes to the gold MREs include:Addition of 297,650oz from Burbanks open pitAddition of 167,920oz from Burbanks undergroundAddition of 13,000oz from PinnerAddition of 3,000oz from MonumentReduction of 20,240oz from BooraraOpen pit mining has commenced at the Boorara gold project on August 2024 and the first ore was exposed and mined in late September 2024.Horizon is also progressing with other projects, including the Cannon and Penny’s Find underground mines. Amidst the current record gold prices, Horizon seeks to capitalize on this opportunity by advancing its substantial resource endowment towards development, thereby generating cash flow.
Key Projects
Boorara Gold Project
The Boorara gold project is located 15 km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the Western Australian goldfields. Over the past decade, a substantial amount of reverse circulation and diamond drilling has been carried out at Boorara. The project includes a JORC 2012 mineral resource estimate (MRE) by Optiro (now Snowden Optiro), which reported a total of 11.03 Mt grading at 1.26 g/t gold, amounting to 448,000 ounces.
The company views Boorara as a substantial baseload feed source that could be enhanced by lower tonnage, higher-grade feed to sustain a standalone milling facility. This is where the recent acquisition of Greenstone becomes important. Boorara can be supplemented by higher-grade feed from Greenstone’s Burbanks deposit to support an integrated operation.
The Independent JORC (2012) Ore Reserve for Boorara, completed by AMC Consultants, shows a financially viable project highlighted by an open pit mine design producing 1.24 Mt at a fully diluted grade of 1.24 g/t gold for 49.5 koz over an approximate 14-month mine life, and ore sale agreement at 92.5 percent metallurgical recovery produces 45.8 koz recovered.
Nimbus Silver-Zinc Project
The 100 percent owned Nimbus silver-zinc-lead-gold deposit is located 15 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia within the Kalgoorlie Terrane. The project’s current mineral resource estimate (JORC 2012) includes 12.1 million tons at 52 g/t silver, 0.2 g/t gold and 0.9 percent zinc containing 20.2 million oz of silver, 78,000 oz of gold and 104,000 tons of zinc using lower cut-off grades of 12 ppm for silver, 0.5 percent for zinc and 0.3 g/t for gold over a 2 metre down hole composite. Within this global resource, the Nimbus project has a high-grade silver and zinc resource of 255,898 tons at 773 g/t silver and 13 percent zinc.
A concept study has confirmed the optimal economic development pathway by mining the higher-grade lodes and generation of a silver/zinc concentrate. A programme of work (POW) has been approved and drilling to test the exploration target is expected to be undertaken in the first half of 2025. The Nimbus project is 2 km east of Horizon’s cornerstone Boorara project and 6.5 km north-northwest of Golden Ridge, both historic gold mining centres.
Burbanks Gold Project
The Burbanks gold project is situated 9 km southeast of Coolgardie, Western Australia. The project encompasses the Burbanks Mining Centre and more than 5 kilometers of the highly promising Burbanks Shear Zone, historically the most significant gold-producing structure within the Coolgardie Goldfield. Previous underground production at Burbanks has surpassed 420,000 oz to date.
Burbanks currently hosts a total resource of 6.1 Mt @ 2.4 g/t gold for 466 koz, including underground of 1.2 Mt @ 4.4 g/t gold for 168 koz. Burbanks is underexplored and remains open in all directions for future growth.
Cannon Underground Project
The Cannon gold project is located 30 km east-southeast of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. It is a fully permitted project with a pre-feasibility study completed in 2022, which shows strong project economics with a free cash flow of AU$10.1 million over the mine’s life. The company has finished commissioning a dewatering pipeline and a pumping system, representing a major milestone in the advancement of its Cannon Underground project. Discussions with mining contractors and potential JV mining partners are underway. First ore production from the Cannon Project is expected to commence in Q4 2024.
Penny’s Find
Penny’s Find is about 50 km northeast of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, near the company’s wholly-owned Kalpini gold project. It comprises a granted mining lease and other associated leases covering 91 hectares. The mineral resource estimate updated in December 2023 boasts 63,000 ounces of gold in the indicated and inferred category. A pre-feasibility study for exploitation using underground mining methods is currently underway. This study will include mine design and financial analysis.
Rose Hill
Rose Hill is 0.5 km southeast of Coolgardie and 35 km west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, on the western edge of the Archean Norseman-Menzies Greenstone Belt. The current JORC 2012 resource at Rose Hill contains 93,300 oz , comprising an open-pit mineral resource of 0.3 Mt grading 2.0 g/t gold for 18,400 oz, and an underground mineral resource of 0.5 Mt grading 4.6 g/t gold for 74,900 oz. Nearly 70 percent of the resource is in the measured and indicated JORC categories.
Kalgoorlie Regional
Horizon owns several promising tenements within the Kalgoorlie region. These project areas include the greater Boorara-Cannon project area, Lakewood, Binduli-Teal project area, Kalpini, Balagundi-Kanowna South and Black Flag.
Coolgardie Regional
Horizon manages several promising tenements within the Coolgardie region, including Rose Hill, Brilliant North and Yarmany.
Management Team
Ashok Parekh – Non-executive Chairman
Ashok Parekh has over 33 years of experience advising mining companies and service providers in the mining industry. He has spent many years negotiating mining deals with publicly listed companies and prospectors, leading to new IPOs and the initiation of new gold mining operations. Additionally, he has been involved in managing gold mining and milling companies in the Kalgoorlie region, where he has served as managing director for some of these firms. Parekh is well-known in the West Australian mining industry and has a highly successful background in owning numerous businesses in the Goldfields. He was the executive chairman of ASX-listed A1 Consolidated Gold (ASX:AYC) from 2011 to 2014. He is a chartered accountant.
Warren Hallam – Non-executive Director
Warren Hallam is currently a non-executive director of St Barbara Limited and Poseidon Nickel Limited, and non-executive chairman of Kingfisher Mining Limited. Hallam has a built a strong track record over 35 years in operations, corporate and senior leadership roles across multiple commodities. This includes previous Managing Director roles at Metals X Limited, Millenium Metals Limited and Capricorn Metals Limited. Hallam is a metallurgist with a Master in Mineral Economics from Curtin University.
Chris Hansen – Non-executive Director
Chris Hansen is a multidisciplinary metals and mining professional, combining core technical fundamentals with a strong finance and project development mind-set. Having initially focused on building a solid technical foundation with industry majors such as Fortescue Metals Group and Barrick Gold, Hansen later joined a pre-eminent London-based mining private equity fund developing robust investment skills, project development expertise, market knowledge and strong industry relations. Since returning to Australia, Hansen has leveraged his experience in both public and private markets, most recently having led mining business development activities for one of Australia’s largest private investment groups. He holds a BSc in geology from the University of Auckland, and an MSc in Mineral Economics from Curtin University.
Grant Haywood – Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Grant Haywood brings over three decades of experience in both underground and open-cut mining operations. During his career, he has served in senior leadership capacities in various mining companies, guiding them from feasibility through to development and operations. His experience spans various roles within junior and multinational gold mining companies, predominantly in the Western Australian goldfields, including positions at Phoenix Gold, Saracen Mineral Holdings, and Gold Fields. He is a graduate of the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) and has also earned a Masters in Mineral Economics from the same institution.
Julian Tambyrajah – Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary
Julian Tambyrajah is an accomplished global mining finance executive with more than 25 years of industry expertise. He is a certified public accountant and chartered company secretary. He has served as CFO of several listed companies including Central Petroleum (CTP), Crescent Gold (CRE), Rusina Mining NL, DRDGold, and Dome Resources NL. He has extensive experience in capital raising, some of which includes raising US$49 million for BMC UK, AU$122 million for Crescent Gold and AU$105 million for Central Petroleum.
Glenn Poole – Chief Geologist
Glenn Poole is a geologist with 15 years’ experience in exploration and production environments, having principally worked within orogenic gold systems for several major mining companies in Western Australia. Poole brings extensive experience in structurally controlled narrow vein gold and sulphide-associated gold deposits. He has previously held senior management roles with major Australian gold producer, Northern Star, during which time, he played a pivotal role in the identification and definition of new ore resources and mining fronts at both the Paulsens and Kundana operations. Most recently, Poole was the senior geologist at Firefly Resources (ASX:FFR), principally responsible for setting exploration strategy and leading the definition of the maiden JORC 2012 resource at Yalgoo. Poole holds a Bachelor of Science Geology & Geography from The University of Otago, and a Master of Business Administration from La Trobe University.