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Australia

McPhillamys Project

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Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit
Study CompletedFeasibility
 Archived Information
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe McPhillamys Project is one of Australia’s larger undeveloped open-pit gold resources.

In early FY25, Regis released a DFS for the Project, highlighting the potential for a robust, long-life open pit operation.

However, on 16 August 2024, the former Federal Minister for Environment and Water issued a Section 10 Declaration under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984, impacting freehold land owned by Regis and the planned TSF location.

This declaration rendered the Project unviable in its current form, overriding prior approvals from the NSW IPC and under the EPBC Act. Consequently, in August 2025, Regis withdrew the DFS outcomes and declared Ore Reserves.

Regis has initiated Federal Court proceedings to challenge the decision. While legal action is ongoing, the Company is assessing potential alternative TSF options, though extensive studies would be required, with no set timeline or assurance of success.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Regis Resources Ltd. 100 % Indirect
LFB Resources NL (operator) 100 % Direct
The McPhillamys project is owned and operated by LFB Resources NL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Regis Resources Ltd.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Volcanic hosted

Summary:

The Project is within the Silurian-aged Anson Formation of the eastern sub-province of the Lachlan Fold Belt (LFB). Due to its complex tectonic history, the LFB is a highly endowed Palaeozoic mineral province and hosts over 150 million ounces of gold. The deposit is hosted in the Anson Formation to the east of the Sherlock Fault, part of the Godolphin-Copperhania Thrust Fault Zone. The Anson Formation varies in composition from crystal tuffs and agglomeratic, matrix-supported accretions to limestones and siltstones.

The McPhillamys gold deposit lies along one of a series of north-south trending splays/horsetail structures that occur at the inflection of the Godolphin-Copperhania Fault Zone where the orientation changes from NNW-SSE to SSW-NNE. The splays are defined by strong shearing and faulting and continue to the south for over 6km. The deposit is hosted by dacite- rich volcaniclastic rocks of the Silurian-aged Anson formation which vary in composition from crystal tuffs to agglomeratic, matrix-supported accretions.

The volcaniclastics have undergone greenschist facies metamorphism, producing a mineral assemblage of biotite/ chlorite, muscovite, quartz, and k feldspar. This assemblage has been overprinted by a hydrothermal alteration assemblage of quartz + white mica (phengite) + carbonate (ankerite) along with gold and sulphide mineralisation.

Gold mineralisation is located within a shear zone that has been defined over a width of 250 m, 800 m along strike and 700 m down dip (it remains open at depth). The gold mineralised zone trends in a northerly direction and dips steeply at 75° to 85° to the east and plunges moderately 50° to the northnortheast. The mineralisation is bound to the west by the Sherlock Fault and is structurally constrained between a set of normal faults trending northeast, southwest produced by dextral movement along the Sherlock Fault.

The mineralisation is cigar shaped, beginning near the surface and extending near vertically to depth. Grade increases with depth with the highest grades near the bottom of the pit, the key driver of the pit shape.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Gold koz 1871,713
Silver M oz 1.5
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics
Hourly processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
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Stripping ratio  ....  Subscribe
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Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Total tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes milled, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2024 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Credits (by-product) Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe
Cash costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe
Total cash costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe
All-in costs Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Silver AUD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Gold AUD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2024 study / presentation.
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

CurrencyAverage
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G&A ($/t milled) AUD  ....  Subscribe
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* According to 2024 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
OP OpEx $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M AUD 924
Refining and transportation $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
G&A costs $M AUD 215
Total OpEx $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
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EBITDA (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
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Pre-tax NPV @ 5.5% $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
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Workforce

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Aerial view:

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