New Murchison Gold (NMG) has announced that an ore purchase agreement (OPA) for the Crown Prince gold deposit between Zeus Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary of NMG and Big Bell Gold Operations (BBGO), a Westgold Resources subsidiary, has now come into full effect.

The Crown Prince deposit is located at the Garden Gully gold project, near Meekatharra in Western Australia (WA). 

NMG entered a binding agreement with BBGO n December 2024 to purchase gold ore from the Crown Prince deposit.

The company stated that all conditions precedent to the OPA have been satisfied or waived.

Under the terms of the OPA, Westgold will purchase gold ore in multiple batches (ore parcels) totalling between 30,000 tonnes (t) and 50,000t per month from Crown Prince.

Each parcel will be certified for grade, moisture and recovery to meet a minimum grade of 1.5 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold.

The ore will be transported by road over a distance of 33km to the Bluebird Gold processing plant, part of Westgold’s Murchison Gold operations in Meekatharra.

NMG is rapidly progressing with the Crown Prince project, having recently acquired an industrial yard and facility in Meekatharra for use as an operational base.

The company has received the necessary permits for native vegetation clearing and a dewatering bore licence, and has completed the development of dewatering bores. Pipeline works are set to commence shortly.

In addition, NMG is actively recruiting for key management positions and has issued tenders for principal operational contracts.

NMG CEO Alex Passmore said: “We are pleased to have completed this milestone and for our ore purchase agreement with Westgold Resources to have come into effect. We are developing a positive working relationship with the Westgold team. NMG is busily progressing the high-grade Crown Prince open-pit gold project towards development.”

In December 2024, Westgold announced that it is assessing a possible ten-year extension of its Fortnum Gold Operation, 140km north of Meekatharra.