Australian gold miner St Barbara has crafted a roadmap for the advancement of the Simberi mine, in Papua New Guinea, outlining production scenarios aimed at elevating output to about 230 000 oz/y through to 2034.
The concept study scrutinised six different cases, comprising two flowsheet options with three different processing rates.
St Barbara believes the 3.7-million-tonne-a-year option provides the most compelling development pathway to increase output from the current 70 000 oz/y to 75 000 oz/y range.
“We now have a road map we can pursue that can take us to increased, more profitable production at Simberi into the mid-2030s,” said MD and CEO Andrew Strelein.
“Our strategy with Simberi has been to extend the production of oxides into 2026, which we are now executing; increase the sulphide resource and reserve through extension drilling, which is under way; and revisit the sulphide expansion development plan. The concept study is a major milestone in progressing that development plan and we are excited about the potential of this project.”
The envisioned expansion requires growth of $213-million across 2026 to 2028, assuming the 3.7-million-tonne-a-year saleable concentrate flowsheet option.
Further, pre-expansion growth capital of between $40-million and $55-million is forecast for the period between 2025 and 2027.
Strelein further indicated a strategic focus on Simberi, given the “treatment” that the company had received in Nova Scotia, Canada. He said St Barbara did not plan to allocate significant growth capital to its Nova Scotia projects while investing in Simberi.
“We can review that position if there is change there,” he said.