ASX-listed WA gold producer Ora Banda Mining’s retiring managing director David Quinlivan has officially handed over the MD’s baton to Peter Nicholson, who has been in the chief executive officer’s chair for the past three months. Mr Quinlivan will now switch to being a non-executive director of the Perth-based company. The executive leadership transition comes after mining veteran Mr Quinlivan played an instrumental role in reviving Ora Banda’s flagship Davyhurst mine about 120km north-west of Kalgoorlie.
The operation, with a different mining and funding blueprint, sent predecessor company Eastern Goldfields to the wall.
Ora Banda has found a safe pair of hands to take over from Mr Quinlivan.
The experienced Mr Nicholson has spent the past 25 years in operational and mine management roles in the resources industry.
He also has a wealth of experience in private equity having been at the helm of mining-focused investment firm Resource Capital Funds, where he was a partner in the global group and managing director of its Australian division.
Mr Quinlivan was brought in to do the heavy lifting to drag Davyhurst out of administration and set it on a path towards recovery.
He oversaw capital raises, a definitive feasibility study, resource drill-outs and the implementation of a new mine plan, culminating in Ora Banda recommissioning the Davyhurst processing plant just 6-7 months from the commencement of redevelopment site works.
Ora Banda Chairman Peter Mansell said: “We sincerely thank David for his contribution to the company since his appointment in the role of MD and CEO at the time of the administration of Eastern Goldfields. It was a difficult period for the company and David really rose to the challenge. We look forward to his continued involvement with Ora Banda as a non-executive director.
“Undoubtedly, we will benefit from Peter’s diverse suite of skills and his technical, commercial and operational expertise and experience, which will be a substantial contributor to the ongoing success and growth of Ora Banda.”
The now debt-free Ora Banda hopes to produce 82,000 ounces of gold at Davyhurst in the new financial year from a triumvirate of deposits.
Projections in the company’s DFS on Davyhurst tabled about a year ago included gold production averaging about 80,000oz per annum across an initial mine life of 5.2 years and free cash flows before tax totalling $357.8 million or an average of $68.8 million a year.
Average all-in sustaining costs of production are predicted in the DFS to come in at $1,578 an ounce over the initial life of mine.
Ora Banda’s refurbished 1.2 million-tonnes-per-annum-capacity Davyhurst treatment plant is currently processing ore from the Riverina open-cut mine about 30km to the north and underground ore from Golden Eagle 3.2km away, with the Missouri open-pit mine about 40km to the south-east set to join them shortly.
Latest published probable ore reserves base for six satellite deposits, all within 50km of the Davyhurst production hub, stand at 6.1Mt grading an average 2.4 grams per tonne gold for 460,000 ounces of contained gold.
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