Gruyere Gold Project

Gruyere a Tier One Gold Operation

• 50:50 JV partner Gold Fields a proven global miner
• Long life, low cost production at Tier 1 gold mine*
• 12 year mine life averaging ~300,000ozpa
• Life of Mine average all in sustaining cost of A$1,025/oz (US$745/oz)
• Gruyere and Golden Highway: 3.9 Moz Reserve, 6.6 Moz Resource
• Simple open-pit and simple processing

*Tier 1: greater than 10 year mine life; greater than 300,000 ounces per annum; greater than 3.5 million ounce Ore Reserve and costs at the lower end of the cost curve.

Gruyere Discovery to Production

The Gruyere Gold Project was discovered by Gold Road in October 2013 on the South Dorothy Hills Trend, 25 kilometres north-east of the Company’s original Yamarna Belt discovery, Central Bore.

Within 10 months of Gruyere’s discovery, Gold Road had defined a significant high-grade gold deposit and announced a maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource of 96.93 million tonnes grading 1.23 grams of gold per tonne for 3.8 million ounces of contained gold.

The Gruyere Mineral Resource has since grown to 140 million tonnes grading 1.3 grams per tonne for 5.8 million ounces of contained gold, making it one of the largest virgin gold discoveries in Australia.

After completing positive Feasibility Studies on Gruyere, Gold Road announced in November 2016 it would sell 50% of the Project to leading international gold producer Gold Fields Ltd for A$350 million in cash plus a 1.5% Net Smelter Return royalty on production over 2 million ounces.

The transaction fully funds Gold Road for its 50% share of development capital and de-risks the Project to a significant degree through the introduction of a partner highly experienced in the development and operation of open-pit gold mines that has agreed to cover any cost overrun up to 10% of the total initial development budget (A$50.7 million).

Under the Joint Venture Agreement, Gold Fields will manage the development of Gruyere and will also manage the operation of the mine. Gold Road retains responsibility for exploration on the Joint Venture tenements.

Construction of the Project commenced at the beginning of 2017 and since then the project team has achieved a number of significant milestones and is on schedule to deliver first gold in the June 2019 quarter.

Gruyere is expected to produce between 85,000 and 120,000 ounces of gold in calendar year 2019. Once steady state production is achieved the average annual production is forecast at 300,000 ounces.

Project milestones achieved since commencement of construction included:

• Installation and establishment of the 648 room Gruyere Village by McNally Construction which was opened by the Hon. Bill Johnston, Minister for Mines in August 2017
• Construction of the Anne Beadell borefield, the main water supply for the Gruyere Village and early earthworks by GR Engineering Services and Desert Sands
• Completion by MACA of the Gruyere airstrip, Gruyere main access road, clearing for the Stage 1 Pit and Tailings Storage Facility, and commencement of the Yeo borefield which will provide water for mine operations
• Construction of the 198‐kilometre Yamarna Gas Pipeline, which was completed in June 2018 by Nacap Australia Pty Ltd on behalf of APA Group
• Construction and commissioning of the 45 MW Gruyere powerhouse by Clark Energy on behalf of APA Group in November 2018
• 97% overall completion by the Amec Foster Wheeler Wood Group & Civmec Joint Venture (ACJV) on construction of the Gruyere process plant and associated infrastructure
• Award of a 5 year mining services contract to Downer EDI (Downer)
• Mining commenced in November 2018 with first or mined in January 2019
• Updated mine plan lifting production from an average 270,000 ozpa to an average of approximately 300,000 ozpa in December 2019

Click here for career opportunities at the Gruyere JV