Name of the Project
Gruyere gold project.

Location
The project is located in the Yamarna greenstone belt, about 200 m east of Laverton, in Western Australia.

Client
The project is a joint venture (JV) between Australia’s Gold Road Resources and South Africa’s Gold Fields.

Gold Road and Gold Fields entered into a 50:50 JV over the Gruyere project in November 2016. The South Africa-based major paid A$350-million for its share in the project.

Project Description
A feasibility study on the Gruyere project has confirmed it as one of the longest-life, lowest-cost undeveloped gold deposits in the world, with an estimated mine life of 15 years.

The project has total proven and probable reserves of 91.6-million tonnes grading 1.2 g/t gold. The Gruyere JV also has granted mining leases over additional mineral resources at Central Bore and Attila-Alaric which, do not form a part of the Gruyere project feasibility study.

Development of the project is based on one, large openpit mine and a conventional semiautogenous/ball mill circuit, gravity/carbon-in-leach plant, with throughput of 7.5-million tonnes of fresh ore a year and up to 8.8-million tonnes of oxide ore a year.

Mining activities will be undertaken by a mining contractor, with technical and managerial direction provided by Gold Road.

The feasibility study proposes that the pit be mined in four stages. Stages 1 and 2 comprise two independent pits in the northern and southern ends of the deposit.

Stage 3 will combine the two starter pits and Stage 4 will cut back to the final pit design.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of A$486 million and an internal rate of return of 24% at a A$1 500/oz gold price. At a A$1 750/oz gold price, the NPV increases to A$910-million, with an internal rate of return of 35%.

Value
The project has a forecast capital cost of A$507-million.

Duration
The project’s execution is based on a five-month early works programme, immediately followed by a 24-month construction and commissioning timeframe to achieve first gold production by the end of 2018.

Latest Developments
Gold Road Resources has launched a prefeasibility study on the potential for openpit mining at the Attila deposit, following an increase more than 100 000 oz in the project’s mineral resource.

Gold Road has announced a 46% increase in the Attila openpit mineral resource, increasing to 327 300 oz of gold, following a 2016 drilling programme.

The Attila deposit is located on the Gruyere joint venture tenements and is about 30 km west of the Gruyere gold project.

The Attila feasibility study will focus on the deposit’s potential supply of supplementary feed for the proposed Gruyere mill, and could potentially enable the definition of a maiden reserve by the September quarter.

Gold Road executive director for exploration and growth Justin Osborne has said the company has more than 14 km of known mineralisation along the Attila-Alaric trend, of which the company is developing a much more detailed understanding.

“Given the success at Attila, and further north at Alaric, we have a high level of confidence that other recognised zones along this trend may offer similar upside exploration potential.

“Our 2017 exploration programmes will be aggressively testing this well-endowed trend over the coming months,” he has stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Gold Road Resources, tel +61 8 9200 1600, fax +61 8 9481 6405 or email perth@goldroad.com.au.