Auric Mining Secures Union Jack to Lift Gold Inventory to 301,000oz
Key Takeaways
- Auric Mining has executed binding agreements to acquire the Union Jack Project for A$6.6 million cash and A$3.0 million in shares, adding 102,000 ounces of gold and lifting total group resources by 51% to 301,000 ounces at 1.25g/t Au.
- Union Jack sits just 15km from the Burbanks Mill via the Great Eastern Highway, directly supporting Auric's hub-and-spoke processing strategy targeting re-establishment of Burbanks as a gold processing hub by early 2028.
- The resource carries a higher-grade subset of 2.16Mt at 1.22g/t for 85,000 ounces at a 0.65g/t cut-off, with historical intercepts including 5m @ 12.21g/t and 2m @ 16.51g/t confirming high-grade pods within the system.
- Milestone payments of up to A$7.0 million are contingent on future JORC resource growth to 125,000oz, 150,000oz, and 200,000oz, with mineralisation remaining open along strike and at depth.
- One of the two leases remains subject to due diligence completion — the Union Jack Project is not yet formally owned by Auric, and investors should factor this contingency into their assessment.
Union Jack acquisition boosts Auric’s gold resource inventory by 51%
Auric Mining (ASX: AWJ) has executed binding agreements to acquire the Union Jack Project, located 5km east of Coolgardie, adding 102,000 ounces of gold to its inventory and lifting the company’s total Mineral Resource to 301,000 ounces at 1.25g/t Au. The acquisition is structured as a strategic bolt-on that directly supports Auric’s Burbanks processing hub thesis, with the project sitting just 15km from the Burbanks Mill via the Great Eastern Highway.
One important caveat: one of the two leases remains subject to completion of due diligence, and the Union Jack Project is not yet owned by Auric. Investors should note this cautionary position clearly stated in the announcement.
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What Auric is buying and what it’s paying
The acquisition comprises two separate assets: mining lease M15/120 (the Union Jack mining lease) and prospecting licence P15/6183, which adjoins the mining lease and is subject to a separate binding agreement.
Consideration for M15/120 is structured as follows:
- A$6.5 million cash (inclusive of the A$100,000 non-refundable deposit already paid) on execution of the Tenement Sale Agreement, subject to due diligence completion
- 12,500,000 fully paid ordinary shares at $0.24 per share (A$3.0 million) on completion (this is the consideration share price agreed with vendor EazyOz Resources, not a market or placement price)
- A$100,000 cash for P15/6183 under a separate binding agreement
Total upfront consideration: A$6.6 million cash and A$3.0 million in shares.
Auric’s 2024 financial results documented the company’s gold market position heading into this period of resource expansion, providing the balance sheet context behind the company’s capacity to fund a A$6.6 million cash outlay and commit to milestone-linked expenditure obligations.
Beyond upfront consideration, Auric has agreed to milestone payments contingent on future JORC-compliant gold resource growth at the project:
- A$2.0 million on definition of at least 125,000 ounces of gold
- A further A$2.0 million on definition of at least 150,000 ounces
- A final A$3.0 million on definition of at least 200,000 ounces
Each milestone payment may be satisfied in cash or shares by agreement, defaulting to 50% cash and 50% shares if no agreement is reached, with applicable GST payable in cash. Auric also agrees to grant the vendor a 1.0% gross production royalty on all gold produced and sold from M15/120, and commits to a minimum A$2.0 million in drilling expenditure over five years from settlement, including a minimum of A$500,000 in year one.
The Union Jack resource: what 102,000 ounces looks like on the ground
Resource snapshot
Union Jack carries an Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 3.12Mt at 1.02g/t Au for 102,000 ounces, reported at a 0.5g/t cut-off within an A$7,000/oz optimised pit shell, in accordance with JORC 2012. The table below shows Auric’s combined group resource across all four deposits post-acquisition.
| Deposit | Category | Tonnes (kt) | Grade (g/t Au) | Ounces (koz Au) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munda in situ | Indicated | 3,500 | 1.45 | 163 |
| Munda in situ | Inferred | 700 | 1.30 | 29 |
| Munda Stockpiles | Indicated | 76 | 0.81 | 2 |
| Jeffreys Find | Indicated | 10 | 2.10 | 1 |
| Jeffreys Find | Inferred | 70 | 1.80 | 4 |
| Union Jack* | Inferred | 3,100 | 1.02 | 102 |
| Combined Total | — | 7,456 | 1.25 | 301 |
Subject to completion of due diligence. Rounding errors are apparent per the source announcement.
Why the grade profile matters
At a higher 0.65g/t cut-off within the same optimised pit shell, Union Jack contains 2.16Mt at 1.22g/t for 85,000 ounces. This higher-grade inventory is directly relevant to potential Burbanks feed economics, where processing selectivity makes grade discipline important.
The resource also has a clear compositional split: approximately 16% of mineralisation is weathered and 84% is fresh rock. Fresh rock mineralisation generally supports more reliable grade estimation and is better suited to conventional processing.
Historical drilling has returned a compelling set of intercepts validating the grade tenor of the resource. Standout results from the body text of the announcement include:
- 17m @ 4.57g/t from 24m
- 17m @ 3.99g/t from 13m
- 15m @ 4.22g/t from 62m
- 5m @ 12.21g/t from 56m
- 5m @ 9.64g/t from 10m
- 2m @ 16.51g/t from 17m
- 10m @ 4.72g/t from 19m
- 6m @ 5.56g/t from 48m
These intercepts demonstrate that high-grade pods are present within the broader mineralised system, not just average-grade bulk tonnage.
Why the Burbanks connection is the strategic centrepiece
For a junior gold company, the path from resource to cash flow is often blocked by one major obstacle: the cost of building a processing plant. Construction of a gold processing mill can run into tens of millions of dollars and takes years to permit and build. A hub-and-spoke model sidesteps this entirely. Under this approach, ore is mined and trucked to an existing nearby processing facility rather than processed on site. The junior miner pays a toll milling fee, avoids the capital expenditure of plant construction, and can move from resource to production far more quickly.
That is precisely the logic underpinning Union Jack’s strategic appeal. The project sits just 15km from the Burbanks processing facility, with direct access via the Great Eastern Highway. Both the mining lease and the prospecting licence are already granted, which removes tenement risk from the equation. Near-surface, open-pit-amenable mineralisation means relatively low strip ratios and straightforward mining logistics.
Auric’s stated objective is to re-establish Burbanks as a strategic gold processing hub by early 2028. Union Jack is intended to contribute as an additional source of ore feed alongside the company’s existing Munda and Jeffreys Find deposits.
Munda production results from the most recent campaign exceeded targets, establishing the operational credibility that Auric is now looking to replicate across a broader multi-deposit feed strategy anchored at Burbanks.
Mark English, Managing Director, Auric Mining
“The Union Jack Project dovetails perfectly with our strategy of acquiring near-term gold production assets within trucking distance of the Burbanks Mill. It’s so close we could almost wheelbarrow the gold!”
Mark English, Managing Director, Auric Mining
“Union Jack is a potential near-term, open pit mining project, that could be advanced as an additional source of feed for Burbanks. It also represents a substantial step in de-risking our growth and adds to our strategy of becoming a sustainable producer.”
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Resource growth potential and next steps
Gold mineralisation at Union Jack remains open both along strike and at depth, and Auric considers the project to have strong resource growth potential. Deeper intercepts from the announcement body text signal underground potential worthy of further testing: 16m @ 4.34g/t from 184m and 2m @ 6.54g/t from 200m are particularly noteworthy, indicating that the deposit does not simply close off at surface-mineable depths.
The resource is underpinned by a 241-hole, 15,210m drilling database, with 88% of total meterage drilled by EazyOz since 2021. Crucially, 122 close-spaced holes were completed in 2026 alone, providing investors with confidence in the near-surface resource quality and a well-understood starting point for infill and extension drilling.
Near-term catalysts to watch include:
- Due diligence completion on M15/120
- Tenement Sale Agreement execution and settlement
- Drilling programme commencement, targeting operational readiness and open-pit resource growth
- Milestone resource definition events (125,000oz, 150,000oz, 200,000oz)
- Burbanks processing hub re-establishment targeted by early 2028
Union Jack represents a material step in Auric’s broader strategy of building a sustainable gold production base in the Western Australian Goldfields, adding scale and optionality to a portfolio anchored by the Burbanks processing infrastructure.
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