The board of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed company Horizon Minerals has given the green light for the final investment decision (FID) for the Boorara Gold Project in Western Australia (WA).

Entirely owned by Horizon, the project lies 15km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, adjacent to the Super Pit, in WA’s gold fields.

Horizon noted that pre-production activities at the site will begin shortly and will be followed by an increase in mining operations.

Mining activities at the site were previously carried out in 2016 at Boorara, which included a small pit at the Royal deposit in 2016.

At that time, 30,239 tonnes (t) of high-grade ore with a grade of 1.73 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold (Au) were processed at the Greenfields mill. Additionally, 13,095t of lower-grade ore with a grade of 0.68g/t Au were stockpiled at Boorara.

Horizon has awarded Hampton Transport Services with the Boorara mining services and surface ore haulage contracts, and payments will commence only after the proceeds from the first gold pour have been received.

The mine’s ore will be processed at Paddington through an ore sale deal with Norton Gold Fields.

Horizon plans to conduct grade drilling at the site from the first half of August and mining activities will begin ramping up from mid-August.

First milling and gold production is set to begin in October this year.

Horizon managing director and CEO Grant Haywood said: “Mining at Boorara is a significant milestone for the company and will make Horizon the newest gold producer in Australia.

“We take great pleasure in welcoming our new members of Horizon, including our business partners Hampton Transport Services and the Norton Gold Fields team, who will be processing Boorara ore at Paddington.

“We are focused on making Boorara a safe and efficient mining operation to create value through generating cash and the first step in sustainable gold production for Horizon.”