Vertex Minerals (ASX: VTX) secures Gekko gravity gold plant, announces AU$0.8M placement

Highlights

• Vertex has secured a Gekko gravity gold plant to process future high-grade Reward ore.
• To fund the initial acquisition cost, the company has announced a placement of AU$0.8 million before costs.
• The acquisition is expected to decrease capital expenditure by nearly AU$4 million and bring gold production forward by up to five months.
• Reward Gold Mine pre-feasibility study (PFS) is being updated to include the lower capex of Gekko plant.

Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX: VTX) has announced the acquisition of a Gekko gravity gold processing plant located at Victoria-based Morningstar Gold Mine.

The company is undertaking a share and option placement to raise up to AU$0.8 million before costs to fund the initial acquisition cost of the plant. The company acquired the plant for AU$620,000 plus GST.

The plant will be used for future onsite processing of gold ore at the company’s Hill End Gold Project.

Gekko gravity processing plant

The Gekko gravity gold plant is a modular design that can be transported easily.

Gekko are major players in the manufacturing of gold processing machinery and plants, and their plants have low environmental impact while boasting small footprints. The Australian-made Gekko plant is modular and provides the benefit of scalability and ease of modification.

Few of the benefits offered by the new plant are-

• Anticipated to decrease capital expenditure of the project by around AU$4 million.
• Time required to advance the project will decrease and is expected to bring gold production forward by nearly five months.
• The location of Gekko plant is ideal for free milling, high-grade Reward ore.
• The plant has higher throughput capacity in comparison to the existing plant at Hill End. Moreover, the plant has the capacity to upgrade further.
• Increased throughput would boost gold production, improve the economics of mining, and decrease unit costs at Hill End.
• PLC operated sequenced stop/star capability.
• Needs two operators and lower power usage, therefore reducing the operating costs.
• Can be monitored from anywhere.
• Full monitoring, including sampling, density and mass flows.
• Rigid gold security and ergonomic design.
• Gekko systems supported and full spare part support.
• State of the Art safety systems.
• The plant offers the opportunity to process stockpiles economically.

The pre-feasibility study (PFS) into the Reward Gold Mine is being updated to include the lower capex of the Gekko plant.

Details of the placement

Under the placement, the company has agreed to place approximately 10 million shares at an issue price of AU$0.08 apiece. Upon shareholder approval, the company intends to issue options on a 1:1 basis. The expiry date of options will be 17 July 2026 and exercise price will be AU$0.25 per share.

The lead manager of the placement is CPS Capital. Subject to completion of the placement and shareholder approval, the lead manager will receive 3 million options.

VTX shares traded at AU$0.092 apiece, 5.75% up, at the time of writing on 5 February 2024.