GR Engineering secures EPC contract for Bellevue Gold processing plant

Golden Spur Resources Pty Ltd – a wholly owned subsidiary of Bellevue Gold Limited – has awarded an $87.8 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to GR Engineering Services Limited (GRES). 

This contract award will get GR Engineering to undertake the delivery of the 1.0Mtpa gold processing plant and associated infrastructure as part of the Bellevue Gold Project in Western Australia. 

The awarding of the EPC contract follows the signing of a Preliminary Works Agreement in May of this year, which enabled the contractor to commence design engineering services as well as locking in long lead and critical path items such as the ball mill, crushing equipment, screens, agitators, leach and tailings thickeners. 

“GR Engineering is pleased to continue its involvement on this exciting gold project. Our clients are increasingly seeking certainty and a track record of performance and GR Engineering has been able to demonstrate this to Bellevue, including by reference to its strong track record of successful project outcomes in the Western Australian gold sector,” GR Engineering Managing Director Geoff Jones said. 

As part of their contract, GR Engineering will receive up to $7.5 million of the contract price in Bellevue shares. This set up aligns the contractor with the project as well as help Bellevue reduce its pre-production cash funding requirement. 

According to Bellevue, the awarding of the EPC contract is “particularly important” as it further insulates the company’s rising costs. This contract is the last of the large capital expenditure items that will lead to production, which means about 90 per cent of the project’s pre-production expenditure has been locked in through contract awards or tenders – 79 per cent under contract and 11 per cent under advanced tender. 

“The appointment of GRES to build our processing plant means we have yet another tier-one contractor helping ensure we meet all our operating and financial targets. 

“GRES knows the Bellevue project well, having been involved in the early studies. And they are extremely experienced in designing and building gold plants in WA. 

“Their readiness to accept Bellevue shares as part-payment is a strong vote of confidence in our project and the outlook for our company,” Bellevue Managing Director Steve Parsons said. 

Source: Bellevue Gold Limited

The design of the processing plant includes sufficient headroom that will support an increase in throughput to up to 1.2Mtpa with no additional capital expenditure across the entire plant. If necessary, expanding the processing plant’s capacity beyond 1.2Mtps will only require a low level of additional capital. 

In addition, Bellevue announced that the Environmental Protection Authority has successfully completed the environmental review process for the Bellevue Gold Project and this ensures that the project remains on track to first production in the second half of 2023. 

In April of this year, a $400 million contract was awarded to Develop for works related to the construction, development and production of the underground mine. You can read more about it here. 

The Bellevue Gold Project is going to be a high-grade underground gold mine that is designed around a 1.0Mtpa processing plant. The gold operations will utilise a conventional gravity and leaching circuit. 

The project has an estimated 10-year mine life and, once operational, will be one of the highest-grade, lowest cost mines in Australia. The mine’s first five years is anticipated to produce an average of over 200,000 ounces of gold per year at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1,000-1,100 per ounce. 

Over its life, the Bellevue Gold Project is forecasted to produce about $2.1 billion of free cashflow (pre-tax) due to its high-grade nature that makes it conducive to profitability. 

Source: Bellevue Gold Limited (1, 2); GR Engineering Services Limited; Australian Mining; International Mining; Proactive Investors