London-listed Greatland Gold is leaving no stone unturned to secure its position at the forefront as Newmont considers its assets post-acquisition of Newcrest. Assisting Greatland in maintaining its position is Twiggy Forrest’s Wyloo Metals, a private renewable metals investment company.
Wyloo has recently strengthened its hold on a potentially significant opportunity by entering into a $50 million unsecured standby debt facility with Greatland Gold, which possesses a 30% stake in the Havieron prospect, with the remaining 70% owned by Newcrest. Wyloo already owns over 8% of Greatland Gold and has expressed interest in playing a role in the Havieron project, located in close proximity to Newcrest’s Telfer gold-copper mine.
Havieron is situated approximately 45 kilometers east of Telfer and relies on Telfer’s processing facilities for its economic viability. This standby facility will offer Greatland the financial flexibility required to advance the feasibility study and underground development at the Havieron gold-copper project in Western Australia and to explore the broader Paterson province.
This facility adds to the financial support from Wyloo, potentially reaching $120 million, in addition to the $220 million in debt support received from three banks—ANZ, HSBC, and ING—in May of this year.
Wyloo’s CEO, Luca Giacovazzi, announced the deal, stating, “We are proud to continue our support of Greatland through this loan facility. Havieron is an outstanding orebody that we are keen to see developed to its full potential, and we see tremendous exploration potential in the Paterson range as an emerging mineral belt.”
Greatland anticipates the finalisation of Newcrest’s acquisition by Newmont in November 2023 and looks forward to collaborating constructively with Newmont to optimise Havieron’s development, finalise the feasibility study, and make progress towards a decision to mine. However, Newmont has announced plans for $500 million in cost savings over two years and $2 billion in cash improvements through portfolio optimisation in the initial two years after the takeover, suggesting potential asset sales, as Newmont may not be interested in retaining all of Newcrest’s mines.
Greatland’s Paterson project includes joint ventures with Newcrest, Havieron and Juri, as well as 100% owned licenses at Scallywag, Rudall, and Canning, collectively covering more than 450 square kilometers in the Paterson region of Western Australia.
As Newcrest transitions into Newmont’s fold, Greatland remains responsible for providing updates on Havieron’s progress. Recent updates reveal that exploration and development have reached a depth of 2,400 meters, with an advance of 1.7 kilometers in the main access decline. Infill drilling continues to uncover high-grade gold and copper mineralisation in the lower levels of the southeast crescent of the underground deposit. These results will be integrated into the ongoing feasibility study, expected in November 2023.
Greatland also disclosed its work on an updated mineral resource estimate for Havieron, set to be released in December.
Greatland’s Managing Director, Shaun Day, expressed satisfaction with the project’s progress, stating, “We continue to be very pleased with the ongoing progress of the Havieron development which has now surpassed a total of more than 2400 meters. Our most recent drilling affirms the impressive widths and high-grade nature of the southeast crescent. Particularly encouraging is confirmation of continuous mineralisation through the link zone which connects the southeast crescent with the eastern breccia. The Havieron team is focused on incorporating these impressive results into an optimised feasibility study.”
Since the last drilling update in April, six holes were completed for a total of 5,028 meters, with all assay results now received.