Genesis Minerals Starts Tower Hill Mining, Eyes FY28 Production

Genesis Minerals has crossed three significant operational thresholds in a single quarter. Open-pit mining is now underway at Tower Hill, long-lead equipment has been ordered for a 3.5-4.0 million tonne per annum processing plant, and the A$639 million acquisition of Magnetic Resources has been formally completed. With FY26 closed and A$520 million in cash on the balance sheet, Genesis is moving from cash accumulation to capital deployment across its Western Australian gold corridor. The June quarter of FY26 marked the moment the company’s growth pipeline shifted from planning to physical execution. What follows maps what each of these three growth initiatives means in practice: what has started, what has been locked in, and what investors should watch as Genesis sequences its path toward materially higher production in the latter half of the decade.

Tower Hill moves from preparation to active mining as Genesis commits to FY28 first ore

Machines are in the ground at Tower Hill. Dewatering was completed prior to open-pit mining commencing, making the start of mining activity a planned outcome rather than an unexpected acceleration. The progression represents Tower Hill’s transition from site preparation to production-oriented development.

That single milestone anchors a longer sequence of infrastructure commitments already in motion. The staged build-out has followed a deliberate order:

1. Dewatering completed at the Tower Hill site
2. Open-pit mining commenced during the June quarter of FY26
3. Construction of a new Leonora Rail Terminal begun, directly tied to Tower Hill Stage 2
4. Long-lead equipment orders placed for a processing facility with planned throughput of 3.5-4.0 Mtpa

The rail terminal is not a standalone project. Management has explicitly linked its construction to Tower Hill’s next development phase, positioning it as enabling infrastructure for the ramp-up toward first ore, which is targeted in FY28. The ordering of long-lead processing equipment signals committed capital rather than a conceptual study, locking in physical spending against that timeline.

What Tower Hill’s processing plant means for production scale beyond FY27

The planned 3.5-4.0 Mtpa throughput capacity at Tower Hill is not an incremental expansion of existing operations. It is a dedicated new production hub.

Tower Hill processing plant: Planned capacity of 3.5-4.0 Mtpa, with first ore targeted in FY28.

To contextualise the scale: FY26 group gold production across Genesis’ existing Leonora and Laverton operations was 285,400 ounces, within guidance of 260-290 koz. The company’s ASPIRE 500 goal aims to grow group output to approximately 500,000 ounces per year over time. Tower Hill is positioned explicitly by management as the primary vehicle for bridging that gap.

The long-lead equipment order cadence is deliberate. Processing plant components with the longest manufacturing and delivery lead times have been ordered now to align with the FY28 first ore target. This sequencing reflects a development program where the construction timeline has been mapped backward from the production date, with each capital commitment timed to prevent bottlenecks during ramp-up.

The Magnetic Resources acquisition and what Lady Julie adds to Laverton

The acquisition of Magnetic Resources was completed during the June quarter of FY26 at a transaction value of approximately A$639 million. The deal is done, and the asset that matters most to Genesis’ Laverton corridor is the Lady Julie gold project.

Gold sector consolidation is accelerating across multiple jurisdictions in this cycle, with the Equinox Gold and Orla combination forming a US$18.5 billion producer around the same time Genesis was completing its own Magnetic Resources deal, reflecting a broader industry pattern of producers acquiring resource depth rather than building it organically.

Lady Julie will be incorporated into Genesis’ existing Laverton operations rather than developed as a standalone asset. The logic is district-scale consolidation, not acreage accumulation. The rationale centres on four connected advantages:

• Shared infrastructure access with existing Laverton processing and logistics
• Geological knowledge transfer from adjacent operations to accelerate resource conversion
• District-scale consolidation consistent with Genesis’ corridor strategy
• Expansion of the total group resource base to approximately 21 million ounces

At A$639 million, this is a material capital commitment. The 21 Moz total resource base it helped create gives Genesis the resource depth to sustain long-term production growth ambitions without relying solely on exploration success. Lady Julie’s value sits in how it changes the Laverton corridor’s trajectory, shortening the path from resource to production compared with a greenfields build.

Understanding Genesis Minerals’ ASPIRE 500 strategy and why the Laverton corridor matters

ASPIRE 500 is Genesis Minerals’ stated goal of growing group gold output to approximately 500,000 ounces per year over time. It is a production ambition, not a deadline. The framework sets the direction for capital allocation decisions across the portfolio, from Tower Hill’s processing plant to the Magnetic Resources acquisition.

Laverton is structurally important to reaching that target. The corridor offers existing mill infrastructure, operational knowledge built over years of production, and now an expanded resource base following the Lady Julie addition. In the June quarter, the Jupiter open pit delivered approximately 490,000 tonnes of ore to the Laverton mill. Jupiter is now fully supplying the Laverton mill with internal ore, a milestone that reduces reliance on third-party feed.

The gap between current output and the ASPIRE 500 target illustrates the scale of investment required.

Each individual growth initiative, Tower Hill, Lady Julie, and the exploration budget, connects back to this framework. ASPIRE 500 is the lens through which the capital allocation sequence makes sense as a coordinated program rather than a series of standalone decisions.

FY27 exploration budget doubles to A$80-90 million, underwriting the resource pipeline

Genesis intends to raise its exploration budget to A$80-90 million for FY27, up from A$40-50 million in FY26. A near-doubling of exploration investment in a single year is a material capital allocation decision.

FY27 exploration budget: A$80-90 million, up from A$40-50 million in FY26, a deliberate doubling driven by the enlarged portfolio.

The enlarged portfolio, now including Lady Julie and the broader Laverton corridor alongside the Tower Hill development footprint, gives Genesis more ground to drill. The expanded exploration spend is expected to be directed across:

• The Tower Hill corridor, where resource growth could extend the mine life and production profile of the new processing hub
• The Laverton district, including Lady Julie, where geological knowledge from adjacent operations may improve targeting efficiency
• Regional targets across the combined 21 Moz resource base, testing for extensions and new discoveries

Management links the budget step-up directly to the ASPIRE 500 framework. Resource growth through the drill bit is a necessary complement to the Tower Hill and Laverton development programs; production targets of 500,000 ounces per year require a resource base that continues to grow ahead of depletion.

FY27 drilling results will be an important indicator of how efficiently Genesis can convert exploration capital into resource additions. With A$520 million in cash at the close of FY26, the financial foundation for this spending is in place. The question is conversion efficiency.

Explorer re-rating dynamics are relevant to how the market will respond to Genesis’ FY27 drilling program; with A$80-90 million in exploration capital being deployed across a 21 Moz resource base, the conversion efficiency of drill results into resource additions will be closely watched by investors assessing whether exploration upside is already embedded in the share price.

Three growth levers, one balance sheet: how Genesis is funding its expansion

Genesis ended FY26 with A$520 million in cash and equivalents. In the June quarter alone, the company generated A$258 million in cash from its existing operations. This is not a company stretching to fund its ambitions.

The balance sheet is enabling three concurrent growth initiatives, each already committed or underway.

The A$639 million Magnetic Resources acquisition has already been settled. The Tower Hill development spending is sequenced against a defined FY28 first ore target. The exploration budget is funded from a cash position that continues to be replenished by the existing Leonora and Laverton operations.

The ASX continuous disclosure obligations under Listing Rule 3.1 require listed companies to immediately notify the market of any information that a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price or value of their securities, which is why capital commitments of the scale Genesis has announced, including long-lead equipment orders and a completed A$639 million acquisition, are each accompanied by formal market releases as they are locked in.

The investor question has shifted. It is no longer whether Genesis can fund these initiatives. The A$520 million cash balance and A$258 million quarterly cash generation answer that. The question is whether Genesis can execute three major programs simultaneously, converting capital deployed into production growth, resource additions, and operational integration at the pace its timeline implies.

Gold production cost pressures are an important variable in evaluating whether Genesis can sustain the A$258 million quarterly cash generation that underpins its expansion program, particularly as long-lead equipment orders and a doubled exploration budget increase the capital intensity of its operations through FY27 and FY28.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with financial professionals before making investment decisions.

Genesis Minerals has built the platform; the next 18 months will test whether it can deliver

The June quarter of FY26 delivered three simultaneous inflection points: Tower Hill mining commencement, the Magnetic Resources acquisition completion, and a confirmed FY27 exploration budget step-up. Each was backed by a balance sheet generating A$258 million in a single quarter and holding A$520 million in cash.

The platform is built. Tower Hill targets first ore in FY28. Lady Julie integration into the Laverton corridor is underway. An A$80-90 million exploration campaign is set to begin drilling across an expanded 21 Moz resource base. Genesis has set a high bar for execution, and the market is expected to track each milestone closely. FY27 exploration results and Tower Hill construction progress represent the nearest data points that may indicate whether the company can deliver on the production growth trajectory that its capital commitments now demand.

Genesis’ acceleration into capital deployment sits within a broader gold mining cycle context that matters for how the market prices production growth ambitions; historical cycles suggest investors who waited for commissioning milestones rather than development announcements captured substantially less upside than those who assessed execution risk at the commitment stage.

Forward-looking production targets and development timelines are subject to change based on market conditions, operational factors, and various risk factors. Past performance does not guarantee future results.