A major Australian gold miner is getting ready to push the go button on a new pit, which will underpin a big boost in production of the valuable yellow metal in the next four years.
Western Australia-based Ramelius Resources has released a new outlook, less than a year after its last major plan in October, as the stars continue to align for its Rebecca-Roe project near the outback town of Kalgoorlie.
The top 100 company is now forecasting a company-wide 205 per cent increase in production from 2025/26 levels to 560,000-610,000 ounces of gold by 2029/30.
"And we're doing it without margin dilution ... you'll be getting fantastic growth," chief executive Mark Zeptner told a briefing on Monday.
"By financial year 2030, we will be a business generating more than $1.5 billion of free cash flow a year, and we'll do this through maintaining a leading position on cost."
Mr Zeptner also promised more capital returns, after Ramelius handed back about 65 per cent of its cash flow to shareholders in 2025/26, even as it continues to fund "one of the strongest growth pipelines in the sector".
However, he also cautioned that while the company's current share buyback program has about $100 million to run by the end of this financial year, the shape of further returns is still to be determined.
Shares in the $6.8 billion producer soared by more than seven per cent in morning trading to $3.84.
RBC Capital Markets analyst James Redfern said all of the company's forecasts were better than expected.
"Ramelius' growth plans are fully funded and will generate significant free cash flow," he said, noting that the group already has more than $1 billion in cash, gold and investments.
Ramelius owns two major assets, Mt Magnet in the Murchison region, where it has a processing plant, and Rebecca-Roe in the Goldfields, which is in the last stages of securing its final permits and environmental approvals.
Mt Magnet is the primary mill for three open pit and underground brownfield mines - Penny, Cue, and Dalgaranga - and is currently undergoing an expansion to increase capacity to potentially five million tonnes a year, from around two million now.
Rebecca-Roe is its major greenfields development and future growth asset, and will have a 3.25 million tonnes per annum processing plant ahead of mining its first gold in the December quarter of 2028.
That will give it runway into its 2029/30 production goals.
"The transformational high-grade growth at Mt Magnet underpins our near-term production and cash generation, that supports both shareholder returns and the expansion itself," Mr Zeptner said.
"Rebecca-Roe adds a second leg of growth."
For the current 2026/27 year, Ramelius is targeting gold production between 205,000 and 225,000 ounces, at an all-in sustaining cost - an industry measure of expenses - of $2,150 to $2,350 an ounce.
For the current 2026/27 year, Ramelius is targeting gold production between 205,000 and 225,000 ounces, at an all-in sustaining cost - an industry measure of expenses - of $2,150 to $2,350 an ounce.
Ramelius' forecasts are based on an Australian dollar average gold price of $5,500, which is significantly higher to current prices.
Gold is trading around $US4,400 an ounce, equivalent to about $6,000.
