Carnavale Resources Ltd (ASX:CAV, FRA:YBB) earlier this week outlined continued progress at its Kookynie Gold Project after securing a mining lease that covers all existing project resources, marking a significant step toward near-term development.
The company’s chief executive officer Humphrey Hale said the granting of the mining lease represented a critical regulatory milestone that allows Carnavale Resources to move beyond exploration and into development execution. He noted that the licence enables statutory activities that are not permitted under exploration tenements, including water management, clearing and advanced drilling programs.
Hale said the mining lease was granted following the completion of a heritage agreement, which he described as a key component of the approval process. With heritage matters resolved, the project is now able to advance into its next development phase and continue work toward a bankable feasibility study.
Interview highlights
- Carnavale Resources has secured a mining lease covering all existing resources at the Kookynie Gold Project
- The mining lease enables statutory development activities and supports progress toward a BFS
- Heritage agreements have been completed, clearing a key regulatory hurdle
- Metallurgical diamond drilling is nearing completion, with geotechnical drilling to follow
- RC drilling is underway to support geochemical analysis and resource upgrades
- The company aims to upgrade parts of the resource from indicated to measured
- Carnavale is targeting shovel-ready status in Q3
- No processing plant build is required, lowering capital intensity
- Peak funding is expected to be around $8–10 million
- Securing a toll treatment mill is the next major focus
Mining Lease grant de-risks Carnavale’s Kookynie Project
Proactive: Welcome back to Proactive Investors. I’m your host, Kerry Stevenson. I’ve asked Humphrey Hale to join us again because Carnavale Resources has more news to share. The ASX code is CAV. The company has the Kookynie project in Western Australia and plenty happening. Humphrey, more news today – what’s going on?
Humphrey Hale: We’ve just had a mining lease granted, which is a very strong milestone. The project is located just south of Leonora, so it’s in the right spot. That’s another major step forward and it allows us to push on with the bankable feasibility study.
Proactive: How long was the process to get the mining lease, and were you expecting it at this time?
Humphrey Hale: The mining lease is a very important step for us to be able to develop the project. It allows us to move from a prospecting or exploration licence into a mining licence, which comes with different regulations. That enables statutory activities like water management, clearing and drilling. You can’t do that under exploration licences.
A key part of that process is heritage. We recently crossed that milestone with a heritage agreement signed, which allowed the mining lease to be granted and lets us move into the next stage.
Proactive: What’s happening on the ground now?
Humphrey Hale: Heritage is in place and the diamond rig is close to completing metallurgical core drilling. We’ll move into geotechnical drilling next week. Since we last spoke, the RC rig has arrived and is now undertaking ground control drilling. That work will provide samples for geochemical analysis of tailings and waste dumps, variability testing for metallurgical sampling, and help upgrade the resource model from indicated to measured.
All of this is about de-risking the early months of operations during the payback period. It’s full speed ahead at the moment and we haven’t hit any hurdles.
Proactive: You’ve been very busy and hitting milestones. Is the project on track to be shovel-ready this year?
Humphrey Hale: The project is now in execution mode. All the elements are lined up and we understand the critical path. We expect to finish mid-year, with permitting submitted before that, and we’re targeting shovel-ready status in the third quarter of this year.
We don’t need to build a processing mill, which reduces capital requirements. The maximum drawdown is expected to be in the order of $8 million to $10 million. The project cash flow is very strong, with around $400 million projected over the life of the project.
Proactive: What’s the key focus from here?
Humphrey Hale: The key task is securing a toll treatment mill. We’re getting expert advice to understand different milling processes and which option suits us best. The project has a high-grade component, with around 50,000 ounces at 28 grams per tonne, which is very strong and supports the broader resource base.
Proactive: It sounds like you’re ticking all the boxes. Thanks for the update.
Humphrey Hale: Thanks for having me back.