REVIEW OF OPERATIONS (CONTINUED) OUR OPERATIONS 12 WESTGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED The completion of a new ventilation portal and the upgrade of primary fans during the period bolstered mine ventilation, supporting both current operations and future expansion. Looking ahead, planned ventilation upgrades in Q1 and Q3 FY26 will allow Starlight to sustain higher production rates at depth. The Fortnum processing plant also benefited from further investment during the year. The installation of a pebble crusher boosted mill throughput, while a full reline of both the Ball and SAG mills was carried out to maintain processing reliability and efficiency. MEEKATHARRA HUB The Meekatharra operations are located around the regional town of Meekatharra, and include the historic gold mining centres of Meekatharra North, Paddy’s Flat, Yaloginda, Nannine and Reedy’s. The Meekatharra processing hub incorporates the 1.8Mtpa Bluebird processing plant, the BluebirdSouth Junction underground mine, a 420-person village, and associated mining infrastructure required to support mining operations. In FY25, the Bluebird plant processed ore from the Bluebird-South Junction and Fender underground mines, supplemented by inventories of lower grade open-pit and stockpiled surface ore. Bluebird-South Junction is a key growth project in the Meekatharra Hub. Increasing Bluebird-South Junction ore feed to the Bluebird mill, located just 600m from the mine, will reduce haulage and associated costs, and increase feed grade. This will increase both gold production and margins. In FY25 we continued to invest in this opportunity with a plan to ramp-up the mining rate at Bluebird-South Junction from 0.5Mtpa to >1Mtpa. The planned ramp-up during FY25 was slower than anticipated, with challenging conditions encountered in the footwall that required a new mine design to ensure production reliability and safety. Transitioning the mine design to a predominantly longitudinal method significantly reduces reliance on development in the ultramafic host rock, and development overall – while retaining the long-term production profile. While this adjustment delayed the proposed ramp-up in the short term, particularly in the first half of FY25, mining rates had increased by the end of the period and will continue to increase in FY26 as South Junction expands. In preparation for higher mining rates, a substantial primary ventilation upgrade was undertaken during the year, together with the establishment of a paste fill plant. The majority of this infrastructure has now been fully commissioned. CUE HUB The Cue Hub is located around the regional town of Cue. This package includes two of Australia’s most iconic mines – Big Bell and Great Fingall. The Cue Hub incorporates the 1.4Mtpa Tuckabianna processing plant, a 148-person village at Big Bell, a 266-person village at Cue and associated mining infrastructure to support mining operations. In FY25, the Tuckabianna plant processed ore from the Big Bell underground mine, with supplementary feed from the Great Fingall and Fender underground mines and surface stockpiles. MURCHISON OPERATIONS Our Murchison operations comprise three processing hubs (Fortnum, Meekatharra and Cue) and five underground mines (Starlight, Bluebird-South Junction, Great Fingall, Big Bell, Fender) in Western Australia’s Mid West region. In FY25 gold output from our Murchison operations was 197,068 ounces of gold, at an AISC of $2,609/oz – representing 60% of Group production. FORTNUM HUB Westgold’s Fortnum Hub is located approximately 140km north of Meekatharra and encompass the 0.9Mtpa Fortnum processing plant and the Fortnum, Horseshoe and Peak Hill mining areas. The Starlight underground mine is currently the predominant feed source (90% of all processed tonnes with the additional 10% of ore sourced from surface stockpiles) to the Fortnum processing hub. It was a stellar year for Starlight – with investment in mine development, key infrastructure and a new haulage fleet positioning the mine for future growth. By the end of the period, ore volumes had increased by 34% quarter-onquarter, as the newly-developed access to multiple work areas and high-grades, especially in the Nightfall and Galaxy zones delivered improved output.
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