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SKO
| Royalty | A$10/oz |
| Terms | Uncapped without buybacks, A$1M Discovery Bonus* |
| Acquisition Date | August 2022 (A$5/oz), October 2024 (A$5/oz) |
| Location | Australia |
| Commodity | Gold |
| Operator | Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX:NST) |
| Mine Type | Open Pit & Underground |
| Mine Life | 17 years (2024 Resources & Reserves) |
| Area | 177km2 |
The South Kalgoorlie Operations (SKO) are located in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, within the prolific Eastern Goldfields Superterrane. Mineralisation is hosted in orogenic lode gold style deposits associated with greenstones with volcano-sedimentary rocks, controlled by generally NNW-trending shear zones.
The Company’s royalty covers the long-term producing underground Hampton-Boulder-Jubilee gold mine (HBJ), operated by Northern Star since 2018. The mine is a primary ore source for Northern Star’s regional Kalgoorlie Operations, providing feed to both the Kanowna Belle and KCGM mills. The main mineralised orebody at HBJ remains open down plunge with limited deep drilling undertaken to date on the narrow, subvertical higher grade lodes. Northern Star continues to assess potential extensions to the system, including to the north (Mutooroo) and the south of current workings (South Jubilee), and new shoots such as Mutooroo West.
Elemental Altus’ royalty also covers the Hercules deposit, located approximately 20km west of HBJ. After discovery in 2023, a campaign of resource definition drilling led to an initial combined open pit and underground Mineral Resource of 916 koz. In late 2024, an area of higher-grade mineralisation was targeted with close-spaced drilling, increasing the confidence in the Indicated Mineral Resource, allowing the calculation of an underground Probable Ore Reserve of 246 koz. Much of the currently defined Hercules deposit is amenable to mining by open pit or underground methods. Higher grade ore extraction is being considered first by way of long hole stoping, with access to lateral ore drives by a decline from a nearby historical open pit. Subsequently, remnant lower grade material can be extracted via open pit mining.
Due to project advancements, Elemental Altus has decided to consolidate the two royalty areas (previously referred to as “HBJ” and “Hercules”) into one larger area of interest, to be referred to as “SKO”.
*A Discovery Bonus of A$1.0 million is payable for each new ore body on the royalty tenement package with production and / or Reserves greater than 250koz of gold.
Since the original acquisition in August 2022, two Discovery Bonus’ have been paid to Elemental Altus, demonstrating Northern Star’s ability to expand the ore reserve estimate, and highlighting potential for the life of mine to be extended further.
Photo Gallery
Sources
- Northern Star Resources “Annual Mineral Resource And Ore Reserve Statement”, dated May 15, 2025
- Northern Star Resources “2024 Annual Report”, dated August 22, 2024
- Northern Star Resources “Annual Mineral Resource And Ore Reserve Statement”, dated May 2, 2024
- For more information on SKO, please visit https://www.nsrltd.com/