Auric locks in pivotal WA Goldfields mill for glittering $4.4M Craig NolanSponsoredMon, 25 August 2025 12:46PM
Auric Mining has executed its purchase of the Burbanks gold mill in Western Australia’s Goldfields region for the apparent bargain price of $4.4 million in a milestone step towards achieving its vision to be a fully integrated miner and producer.
Burbanks, 15 kilometres south of Coolgardie, has not been operated since 2019 but remains fully equipped with crushing, grinding and carbon-in-leach processing machinery. It is strategically positioned near Auric’s gold mining operation at Munda, 65km further south.
Auric says the acquisition aligns with its long-term plans to improve its gross profit margins by doing its own processing and ultimately increasing gold production.
The mill comes with attached environmental, water, power, mining and processing permits, which provide further reasons for the purchase beyond its compelling location near Auric’s tenements.
Burbanks also has a current permit to expand the operation’s capacity and 10 granted infrastructure leases, meaning construction time for an economically suitable plant may be reduced to as little as two years.
Given it would have taken Auric about five years to build a viable facility from scratch, Burbanks provides Auric with valuable time savings to ramp up production using its own processing operation.
The site also has access to water and power. Auric could have expected to see little change out of $5 million if it had needed to connect a new power line from Coolgardie. Securing water access for the facility may have potentially come with a similar cost.
The purchase also kicks four granted mining leases into Auric’s landholdings. The additional leases share a boundary with Horizon Minerals’ high-grade 520,000-ounce Burbanks gold project, which is grading 2.4 grams per tonne (g/t).
Auric completed the asset sale deed for the plant with BDO Queensland business restructuring partner Andrew Fielding acting as a vendor’s agent for the mortgagee in possession.
Auric moved to nab the facility in December last year and completed a due diligence process to assess its potential for refurbishment and an increase in its capacity to at least 500,000 tonnes per annum.
This marks a significant milestone for Auric furthering our aspirations of becoming a fully integrated miner and producer. A major missing piece for us has always been a mill. We see executing this deed as another strategic step in the right direction of ultimately establishing our own processing pathway and being in control of our own destiny.
Auric Mining managing director Mark English
The company is looking to keep the cash floodgates open and maximise its opportunities within the current sky-high profitable gold environment.
With the yellow metal trading at US$3365 (A$5191) per ounce, almost all WA’s current gold miners are hell-bent on pumping out as much production as possible. Though they face a challenge, given the region’s existing toll-treating options are heavily booked and likely to remain tight for years.
Auric has clamped two mining and milling arrangements in place recently, setting in stone a pivotal toll treatment and ore purchase agreement with ASX-listed, $600-million market-cap goldie Black Cat Syndicate.
The deal ensures 125,000 tonnes of gold ore from its Munda starter pit in WA’s Southern Goldfields will be processed not too far away at Black Cat’s Lakewood Mill in Kalgoorlie.
Auric forecasts the ore will yield about 6100 recovered ounces of gold at a grade of 1.8g/t, for more than $28 million in potential gross revenue.
The agreement is a significant step for the company’s Munda pit, where mining operations are already in full swing following a recent first blast and overburden removal.
Processing is set to kick off in September at Black Cat’s 1.2-million-tonne-per-annum Lakewood facility, about 100km up the road from the project. Auric expects the Munda ore will be processed by February next year.
Auric has also launched into its final toll milling campaign at its Jeffreys Find gold mine, near Norseman in WA’s Goldfields-Esperance region. The final 60,000t batch of ore is set to produce a more-than-handy 2750 ounces of gold to close out the company’s massively successful joint venture with BML Ventures.
The ore is now being processed at Focus Minerals’ Three Mile Hill mill in Coolgardie, putting the finishing touches on the 30,000-ounce total gold target from Jeffreys Find. The final mining and processing blitz on ore from Jeffreys is expected to generate up to $9 million in surplus cash. Auric’s 50:50 share is expected to be between $4 million and $4.5 million.
Under the joint venture, Kalgoorlie-based BML will continue to shoulder the load for the mining, haulage and milling costs for Jeffreys Find. Auric says it has already invoiced BML for a $3.6 million interim distribution to be paid in July and August. It has pencilled in final accounting next quarter.
Auric also intends to purchase the Lindsay’s gold project in the Eastern Goldfields, 50km northeast of Kalgoorlie, after due diligence.
The project comprises eight tenements and three mining leases across 33 square kilometres and is a sign that Auric will add suitable assets to its arsenal as a further springboard for the company to keep the good times rolling.
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