Bellevue Gold unveils 5-year growth plan, $150m equity raising
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Bellevue Gold has unveiled a five-year growth plan and funding strategy, including a $150 million equity raising, to eliminate more than half of its debt while increasing production levels.
The numbers: The gold producer said its growth plan will provide a pathway to increase production to 250,000 ounces per year by FY28. The strategy is designed to "materially grow earnings and production", and reduce the company's all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to between $1,500 to $1,600 by FY29.
Bellevue said it aims to achieve growth through increased underground ore movement from around 1 million tonnes per year in FY25 to 1.5 million tonnes per year in FY27, and corresponding increased processing capacity.
The miner will invest $60 million into exploration in FY25 and FY26 with an exploration target of 1.5 million to 2.5 million ounces.
Bellevue will also undertake a $150 million institutional placement to support the partial repayment of its project loan facility with Macquarie Bank, with the aim of unlocking operating cash flow to self-fund the five-year growth plan. The offer price of $1.55 per share represents a 15.3% discount to the last price of $1.83.
The $120 million of the proceeds will be used to reduce the company's bank debt of $100 million. Following the completion of the placement, Bellevue will also launch a share purchase plan, targeting to raise a further $25 million.
Meanwhile, Bellevue set FY25 production guidance of between 165,000 to 180,000 ounces at a project AISC of $1,750 to $1,850 per ounce.
The company said it achieved production guidance of 80,000 ounces in the second half of FY24.
The context: Bellevue managing director Darren Stralow said the company is "now ideally placed" to reduce the risk profile of the company and a grow its production outlook.
What they said: "We will significantly de-risk the balance sheet and increase production and free cash flow in the process," Stralow said. "This will enable us to unlock the full value of the Bellevue asset and leverage existing infrastructure in a more rapid manner, in turn achieving greater scale, lower costs and increased financial returns."
The source: ASX announcement
