Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd (ASX:WMC, OTC:WMXCF)’s first gold concentrate shipment has departed the Port of Fremantle in Western Australia.
The ship has set sail for Wiluna’s offtake partner, London Stock Exchange-listed Polymetal International PLC (LSE:POLY) - one of the world’s top 10 gold producers and with a £5 billion market capitalisation.
Wiluna’s logistics contractor, Qube Bulk, delivered the concentrate from the ASX-lister’s mine via road and rail to their facility at the port of Fremantle, where it was loaded onto the ship for departure on Sunday.
Executive chair Milan Jerkovic said the first shipment’s departure was “a great milestone” for WMC.
“The concentrator is performing well and concentrate production is ramping up,” he stated on Monday.
“Along with Wiltails, which is due to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2022, we hope to be producing at steady-state commercial production of an annualised 100,000 ounces per annum by the third quarter of 2022.”
Shares were as much as 5% higher intraday to A$1.05 while the company's market cap is approximately A$212.37 million.
What's next?
With its pioneer shipment now at sea, Wiluna is working to lock in shipping plans for six more consignments.
A second shipment of 20 containers has been loaded and is on its way to Fremantle with an estimate to set sale in early March.
The third consignment, likely to hold 50 containers of gold concentrate, is also confirmed and will be shipped to offtake partner Trafigura mid-next month.
This will mark the first shipment to Trafigura, which, like Polymetal International, signed an offtake contract for the first three years of production in a contract announced around this time last year.
To date, 2,690 wet tonnes of gold in concentrate, which is the equivalent to around 5,650 ounces of gold, has been produced, with the ramp-up to full steady-state commercial production in progress.
WMC is also pleased to report that its Wiltails tailings retreatment facility — expected to produce around 15,000 ounces per annum — is 30% complete and expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2022.
The company believes this will make a material difference to its stage one production capacity at Wiluna from the date of commissioning.
About Wiluna
Wiluna Mining is a Perth-based, ASX-listed gold mining company that controls more than 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Region in the Northern Goldfields of Western Australia.
The Yilgarn Region has a historic and current gold endowment of more than 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world.
The company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation, which is one of the largest gold districts in Australia under single ownership based on overall JORC mineral resource.