The Company owns a 50% interest in the NSR royalty on two areas within the Ballarat operation: Balmain (tenements EL3018, EL5535, EL6442, MIN4847, MIN5396) and Ironbark (tenements EL6036, RL2027). Balmain is currently the only producing area with the potential for Ironbark to contribute further to future production and royalty cash flows. The royalty rate is 2.50%, and the company also holds ownership over US$1 million in accrued royalty payments. Over the past five years, the royalty has generated average annual cash flows of approximately A$1.8m. The royalty is capped at a total of A$50m, with A$14.5m paid as of 31 December 2020. The royalty interest is projected to generate US$1.3 million in average annual after-tax cash-flows for the company over 13 years.
Ballarat is an underground gold mine located 115km northwest of Melbourne in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The mine is owned and operated by Golden Point Group Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shen Yao Holdings, a Singapore-listed public company, which acquired the mine in 2012.
The Ballarat Goldfield is positioned in the hanging wall of the crustal-scale Williamson Creek reverse fault, which strikes north-south and dips to the west. Gold mineralisation occurs within discontinuous quartz veins associated with Lower Ordovician sandstones, siltstones and mudstones that are weakly metamorphosed and folded about the north-trending axes.
Ballarat has a historical production rate of approximately 40,000 oz per annum (37koz in 2020) and a proven track record of resource replacement. Since 2011, the mine has produced over 300,000 oz at an average grade of 5.7 g/t Au. Total Resources have been estimated at 4.4 Mt at a grade of 5.9 g/t totalling 833,000 oz of gold. Based on current resources and the company’s assumptions, the mine has an estimated remaining mine life of 13 years.
Ballarat
