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Rowena Duckworth
Kaiser Reef has finished the June quarter in style, pouring 6000 ounces of gold across its Henty and Maldon operations, paying down debt and closing with $37.2 million in cash as it heads into the new financial year.
The company split production across its two Tier-1 Australian assets, with the Henty gold mine in Tasmania contributing 5563 ounces of gold, plus a handy 5366 ounces of silver poured as a by-product. The Maldon gold project in Victoria’s historic Golden Triangle chipped in a further 437 ounces of gold as the operation continues to ramp towards its strategic potential.
Quarter-on-quarter, the numbers show welcome, if incremental, momentum. Total production climbed from 5534 ounces in the March quarter to 6000 ounces in June, an increase of about 8.4 per cent, with Henty lifting output from 5188 ounces to 5563 ounces. Maldon put in a much stronger showing, up from 346 ounces to 437 ounces, a gain of roughly 26 per cent, as the second processing shift began to find its rhythm.
Despite early-quarter grade-control issues at Henty, management says it moved swiftly to resolve them, although stoping delays associated with remnant mining have now pushed some of its targeted production into the September quarter.
‘Kaiser’s strategy remains disciplined production growth, reserve expansion and building long-term value from our dual-asset platform.’
Kaiser Reef managing director Brad Valiukas
The company has used the result to reaffirm its production guidance of 32,000 ounces for the 2027 financial year across Henty and Maldon combined.
While cash eased from $45.6 million to $37.2 million during the quarter, the reduction reflected a deliberate investment drive, with $2.7M poured into the Henty tailings storage facility and a ROM pad expansion, and $2.1M towards A1 bonding arrangements.
At its Maldon mine, $1.6 million was spent on strategic land purchases, with a further $1.4 million pumped into exploration and site setup, alongside other ongoing investment across both assets.
Behind the ounces, Kaiser has been busy tidying up the balance sheet. The company trimmed its gold loan by 312 ounces, worth roughly $1.9 million net, leaving a balance owing of 416 ounces. An additional deferred payment of 150 ounces, or about $1 million net, was made to Catalyst.
The result is a business heading into the September quarter with less debt, fully funded and with clear operational priorities at both Henty and Maldon.
Kaiser says its strategy remains focused on disciplined production growth, reserve expansion and building long-term value from its dual-asset platform.
The Henty underground operation is underpinned by a 199,000-ounce gold ore reserve, and the historic Maldon field – which has previously produced 1.75 million ounces at a striking grade of 28 grams per tonne – is now offering plenty of upside potential from ongoing high-grade exploration.
Kaiser Reef managing director Brad Valiukas said: “We head into the September quarter with a fully funded balance sheet, clear operational priorities at both assets and a strong focus.
With a conventional 300,000-tonne-per-annum processing plant already humming away at Henty and a fully permitted 200,000-tonne-per-annum carbon-in-leach facility operating at Maldon, Kaiser isn’t short of infrastructure to turn buried ounces into cash at the bank.
Having put its operational setbacks behind it, Kaiser heads into the new financial year with two gold-producing assets, a healthy $37 million cash balance, and production guidance locked in, leaving the company well placed to build further momentum.
If Henty delivers the deferred ounces this quarter and Maldon continues to build momentum, the company may have laid the foundations for a much bigger year than the June quarter numbers alone suggest.
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