S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) gold stock Catalyst Metals Ltd (ASX: CYL) is charging higher today.
Again.
Catalyst Metals shares closed yesterday trading for $6.54. In morning trade on Friday, shares are changing hands for $7.05 apiece, up 7.8%. This sees shares in the ASX 300 gold stock up a whopping 710.3% since this time last year.
For some context, the ASX 300 is up 0.9% today and up 6% over 12 months.
Here's what's grabbing investor interest today.
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ASX 300 gold stock leaps on project approval
The Catalyst Metals share price is racing higher after the miner announced that it has received the final environmental approval from the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) to develop its Trident gold project.
The ASX 300 gold stock now has all the required environmental approvals in place to commence mining at the project, located in Western Australia.
Management said it will finalise the award of the open pit mining contract in the coming weeks after it receives the safety compliance notice from DEMIRS. Gold production at the project is set to commence in line with prior guidance.
The Trident project is an undeveloped gold deposit 30 kilometres distant from the Plutonic processing plant. Trident has Resources of 524,000 ounces at 3.6 grams of gold per tonne and Reserves of 188,000 ounces at 4.4g/t Au.
According to the release, Trident's capital costs are a relatively modest $15 million. The development comprises a small open pit which will be followed by an underground mine. The ore will be processed at the Plutonic processing plant, which the ASX 300 gold stock said is "underutilised".
Trident currently has a five‐year mine plan at 37,000 ounces of gold per year. That's expected to produce an average annual cash flow of AU$53 million, assuming a realised gold price of AU$3,400 per ounce.
The miner said that grade control drilling of the open pit is complete, having mobilised a grade control rig in January.
Trident is the third gold mine to be developed as part of Catalyst's three‐year plan to double its production at the Plutonic Gold Belt for $31 million in capital expenditures.
What did management say?
Commenting on the DEMIRS approval helping lift the ASX 300 gold stock today, Catalyst CEO James Champion de Crespigny said:
Trident has been inching closer to development for some time. This milestone makes it more real. We now have all the mining approvals in place to allow Catalyst to bring online the mines necessary to double production at the Plutonic Gold Belt.
