Westgold Lifts Cue Hub Target to 1.7Mtpa for 15,000oz Annual Uplift

Westgold Resources has raised the bar on its Cue processing hub expansion, confirming a 1.7Mtpa throughput target that supersedes the 1.5Mtpa flagged in the company’s October 2025 three-year outlook. The announcement, dated 5 August 2026, moves beyond earlier guidance with specific engineering detail: a mill motor power increase from 2.9MW to 4.2MW, a liquid-cooled replacement unit paired with a variable speed drive, and a milling circuit throughput step from approximately 170 tonnes per hour to 200 tonnes per hour. The result is a projected production uplift of approximately 15,000 ounces per annum from FY28. WGX shares were trading up 2.27% at $4.96 at the time of announcement, giving the company a market capitalisation of approximately A$4.557 billion. What follows covers the engineering specifics of the upgrade, the ore supply pipeline feeding the expanded capacity, where the Cue expansion fits within Westgold’s group production targets, and the execution risks investors should track.

The engineering case for a capital-light mill upgrade at Cue

The centrepiece of the Cue Expansion Plan (CXP) is a single mechanical intervention: replacing the existing 2.9MW mill motor with a 4.2MW liquid-cooled unit and installing a variable speed drive. That 45% increase in installed power is designed to push milling circuit throughput from approximately 170 tonnes per hour to 200 tonnes per hour, lifting the Tuckabianna processing plant’s nameplate capacity from 1.4Mtpa to 1.7Mtpa, an increase of approximately 21%.

The upgrade qualifies as capital-light because it targets an existing bottleneck in the milling circuit rather than requiring new processing infrastructure. A motor replacement and variable speed drive installation is a recognised debottlenecking technique in Australian gold processing, carrying a more contained risk profile than a greenfield plant build.

The capital payback profile of the CXP is notably short: the company has flagged a 10-month payback period on the A$22 million investment, which frames the motor upgrade as a high-return, low-risk capital allocation relative to the greenfield alternatives available to mid-tier Australian gold producers.

Process plant upgrade completion is targeted for late FY27, with ore stockpile accumulation anticipated from FY27 onwards to build a production buffer ahead of commissioning.

CEO Wayne Bramwell framed the CXP as a deliberate effort to reduce operating costs and improve cashflow generation through capital-light processing hub optimisation.

Understanding the Cue hub and why throughput is the constraint

The Tuckabianna processing plant sits at the physical centre of the Cue hub and is currently operating at or near its 1.4Mtpa nameplate capacity. Recent quarterly data confirms there is limited headroom for production growth without a throughput intervention.

Q3 FY26 Cue hub operating metrics:

• Ore milled: 329kt
• Head grade: 1.8 g/t
• Recovery: 87%
• Gold produced: 16,563oz

Annualised, those figures imply throughput of approximately 1.3-1.4Mt and production of approximately 60-70koz per annum, confirming the hub is running close to capacity limits.

Cue is one of four Westgold processing hubs, alongside Meekatharra, Higginsville, and Fortnum, which collectively provide approximately 6Mtpa of group processing capacity.

Does the 15,000oz uplift arithmetic hold up?

Scaling the Q3 FY26 data provides a useful cross-check. At 1.7Mtpa throughput with a similar head grade of 1.8 g/t and 87% recovery, the implied production uplift sits in the range of 15,000-20,000 ounces per annum. That aligns directly with the company’s stated target of approximately 15,000oz per annum.

The calculation holds under certain technical conditions. Ore characteristics, particularly hardness and grind size, must remain within design assumptions for the upgraded mill configuration. Ancillary plant components, including pumps, cyclones, classification circuits, and tailings handling, must also be able to accommodate the higher throughput without creating secondary bottlenecks.

Where the ore will come from to fill 1.7Mtpa capacity

An upgraded mill only delivers ounces if the ore supply is there to feed it. The supply picture for the expanded Cue hub builds from confirmed underground sources through to exploration-conditional brownfields targets.

Confirmed ore sources:

• Big Bell underground: the primary baseload feed source, with a board-approved expanded resource of 15.7Mt at approximately 3 g/t for 1.5Moz of gold, a mine life of approximately 16 years, base-case production of approximately 93koz per annum, and peak production of approximately 134koz per annum around FY30 at an AISC of approximately A$2,388/oz
• Great Fingall underground: a higher-grade supplementary feed source listed in the three-year outlook
• Fender underground: currently operating and listed as a key Cue hub ore source
• Open pit operations: newly commenced at both Cue and Meekatharra, adding organic volume

Exploration-conditional sources (upside, not committed supply):

• Big Bell South: brownfields open pit target within approximately 50km of the Cue hub, with potential contribution from FY28 subject to successful drilling
• Cuddingwarra: brownfields open pit target on a similar exploration-conditional timeline

Third-party ore purchase agreements also provide potential supplementary supply.

Big Bell resource: 15.7Mt at approximately 3 g/t for 1.5Moz of gold, with an approximately 16-year mine life under the board-approved expanded model.

The ore supply picture is the key variable for investors assessing the CXP. Big Bell’s upgraded resource underpins the baseload case, but full utilisation of 1.7Mtpa capacity will likely require the brownfields targets to convert and open pit ramp-ups to execute on schedule.

Brownfields resource conversion from step-out drilling carries meaningful timing risk, as demonstrated by exploration programs across the Western Australian goldfields where high-grade intercepts outside existing resource envelopes can shift mine life projections but require follow-up drilling campaigns before feed supply plans can be revised.

How Cue fits inside Westgold’s push to 470,000 ounces by FY28

The CXP is one piece of a group-level production build. Westgold has targeted growth from 326koz in FY25 to approximately 470koz per annum from FY28, with group all-in sustaining costs (AISC) declining to approximately A$2,500/oz from FY27. The Cue expansion’s approximately 15,000oz per annum uplift contributes to that trajectory alongside a larger concurrent project at Higginsville.

The cost logic underpinning both expansions is the same: spreading largely fixed processing infrastructure costs over higher throughput improves cost per tonne processed and cost per ounce produced. The October 2025 three-year outlook had flagged 1.5Mtpa at Cue by FY28; the 5 August 2026 announcement supersedes that with a 1.7Mtpa target backed by specific engineering detail.

Cue versus Higginsville: two expansions, different scales

The Higginsville hub expansion is the larger of the two concurrent projects:

• Capacity increase of approximately 62.5%
• Regional production uplift of approximately 60koz per annum
• Processing costs expected to fall approximately 24% to approximately A$34/t
• Approximately A$16 million already committed to long-lead equipment (SAG mill, crushers, screens, tailings thickener)

Cue’s CXP operates at a smaller scale, with a 21% capacity increase and approximately 15koz per annum uplift, but at lower capital intensity. Together, the two projects account for a material portion of Westgold’s path from current output to the 470koz per annum group target.

Australian gold sector consolidation has accelerated through 2025-2026, with Genesis Minerals completing a A$12.6 billion merger to create a multi-hub producer at scale, a structural shift that raises the competitive context for mid-tier operators like Westgold pursuing organic growth through hub expansions.

What investors should watch as the Cue expansion progresses

The engineering case is credible and the production arithmetic is internally consistent. The question is execution.

Key risk categories and indicators to track:

• Ore delivery: Big Bell, Great Fingall, and Fender must execute to plan. Brownfields targets at Big Bell South and Cuddingwarra carry exploration-conversion risk, and open pit ramp-ups at Cue and Meekatharra are newly initiated.
• Procurement and lead times: The mill motor and variable speed drive must be secured on schedule. Westgold’s early commitment of approximately A$16 million to long-lead items at Higginsville provides a precedent for how the company manages procurement risk on hub upgrades.
• Management bandwidth: Two concurrent hub expansions require simultaneous execution discipline across engineering, procurement, and operational teams.

Key investor tracking signal: Ore stockpile accumulation at Cue from FY27 onwards is the leading indicator that underground ramp-ups are tracking to plan and the hub will have sufficient feed when the upgraded plant goes live.

Plant upgrade completion is targeted for late FY27. Any revision to that schedule, or to the stockpile build timeline, would be an early signal of execution delay.

Multi-year guidance delivery has become a key differentiator for ASX-listed gold producers in the current capital market environment, with investors assigning valuation premiums to management teams that consistently convert production targets into reported ounces and cashflow.

A capital-light bet on throughput growth, with the ore supply still to prove up

• WGX shares up 2.27% to $4.96, market capitalisation approximately A$4.557 billion on 5 August 2026
• Combined production uplift from Cue (approximately 15koz per annum) and Higginsville (approximately 60koz per annum) forms a significant portion of the FY28 group target of approximately 470koz per annum

The motor replacement is a technically straightforward intervention, and the 15,000oz per annum uplift is consistent with existing operating data at the Cue hub. CEO Wayne Bramwell’s framing around cost reduction and cashflow generation positions the CXP as a deliberate capital-light choice rather than a constrained one.

The growth story, however, depends on concurrent execution at Big Bell, Great Fingall, Fender, new open pits, and eventual brownfields conversion. The market’s positive response reflects confidence in the strategy’s coherence. Value realisation will come from operational delivery across a multi-site ore supply plan that carries meaningful moving parts through FY27 and into 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. Forward-looking production and cost targets are subject to execution risks, market conditions, and operational performance.