Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) earlier this week outlined its next steps as it moves the Mandilla Gold Project toward development, announcing key management appointments and a native title agreement.
The company said it had finalised new leadership roles to support the shift from exploration to construction. Jed Whitford, who previously worked with the company at Aurenne Resources, has been appointed to assist with permitting and early-stage planning. Whitford had been involved in securing approvals for the Ross Cycle project.
Astral also confirmed that Matt Wilson will join as General Manager. The company highlighted his recent experience managing operational readiness and mining at the Cote Gold Mine as a key asset in its project transition.
Astral said it had also signed a contract with JR Engineering and appointed a debt advisor. These steps will support completion of the Definitive Feasibility Study and the company’s final investment decision.
The company told investors that a native title agreement had been reached with the Marlinyu Ghoorlie people. The agreement is required to convert exploration tenements into mining leases. Astral noted that this was a necessary step to proceed with mining approvals for the Think Big deposit.
“This native title agreement was the last hurdle we needed to overcome to allow those mining tenements to be granted,” Managing Director Marc Ducler said.
Astral said it is now able to move forward with its permitting process and development plans at Think Big. It added that it aims to secure a similar native title arrangement for the broader Mandilla Gold Project area.
The update follows Astral’s pre-feasibility study completion in June and its recent announcement with Mineral Mining Services. The company previously said it is exploring monetisation options for the Think Big deposit to help fund the next stages of project development.
Proactive:
Astral Resources is transitioning the Mandilla Gold Project into production and has made new appointments to support this transition. All the details, of course, are with the company's Managing Director, Marc Ducler, who's joining me live from Sydney this late afternoon his time. It's good to see you again, Marc. How are you?
Marc Ducler:
Good, good. I mean, I'm not enjoying the same warm weather you are, but it's still nice to be here in Sydney today.
Proactive:
It's quite warm on the West Coast, but you are in Sydney. There are quite a few things unfolding as your trip sort of starts to kick in on the East Coast market. Walk us through these new appointments — there's lots happening to support this transition.
Marc Ducler:
Yeah. So, once we finished the pre-feasibility in June of this year, we acknowledged that we needed to start putting together the management team that can support us into construction. So, you need to bring those mine builders along.
To that end, we've put Jed Whitford on as a key member. We worked with him before at Aurenne Resources — he got that Ross Cycle project fully permitted — and now we're very happy to have him back with us at Astral.
Similarly, Matt Wilson will be our new General Manager. He's just finished a stint, firstly in operational readiness for the Cote Gold Mine, then moved into the mine management role, so he certainly has some very recent mine building experience. We're very keen to have those guys on board.
We've also executed a contract with JR Engineering and appointed a debt advisor — all really important things as we move towards completion of the DFS and that final investment decision.
Proactive:
They’re all little bits and pieces that are just sort of puzzling up as this moves ahead. And of course, Marc, on Friday you've announced to the market your receipt of native title agreements for the project. That, of course, safeguards Aboriginal cultural heritage on site and across the area. But what is the real impact that this grant will have for the project overall?
Marc Ducler:
Yeah, so the native title agreement for the mining lease is important because as you move from having a prospecting or exploration tenure and want to move into a mining tenement, then you have an obligation to strike an agreement with the native title claimant group — in this case, it's the Marlinyu Ghoorlie people.
We've been working with them for some time to get to that agreement. And off the back of the recent announcement with Mineral Mining Services, where we're looking to monetise Think Big to assist us with the funding burden as we move Mandilla into that development decision and into production, this native title agreement was the last hurdle we needed to overcome.
It allows those mining tenements to be granted, which paves the way for us to then submit mining approvals and move towards development at Think Big. So that was a crucial point for us. We're now very much looking forward to working with the Marlinyu Ghoorlie to achieve similar native title protections for the Mandilla Gold Project as well.
Proactive:
We'll look forward to having you back on board here on the West Coast with more updates. There's quite a bit happening as the year starts to wrap up. This was Astral Resources Managing Director Marc Ducler. Thank you so much for those updates.
Marc Ducler:
Cheers. Thank you.