Kaiser Reef gold loan exit frees $600K a month for mine growth
Multi-asset gold producer Kaiser Reef (ASX: KAU) has put a senior secured gold loan to bed, immediately unchaining $600,000 per month in operating cash flow. The move adds another shot of financial firepower to its growth ambitions in Tasmania and Victoria, driving another peg into the ground as the company continues its remarkable turnaround from gold market battler to cash-rich producer.
The Auramet International gold loan was repaid on schedule, with cash flow from its Henty gold mine in Tasmania footing the entire bill. A final 104-ounce delivery this month brought the curtain down on 18 monthly instalments totalling 1872 ounces. The company says Henty’s ability to pay its own way is a ringing endorsement of its 2025 acquisition and the cash-generating muscle the mine has brought to the business.
With the loan retired, Kaiser’s only remaining gold delivery obligation is a deferred consideration payment to vendor Catalyst Metals for the Henty acquisition, requiring 50 ounces of gold per month through to October 2030. Following the latest delivery, 2400 ounces remain outstanding on that gold loan facility.
The gold loan helped us acquire Henty, and repaying it is an important milestone for Kaiser. Importantly, retiring the gold loan immediately increases our retained production each month. With A$40 million in cash and bullion at the end of September, we are in a strong position to fund our ongoing development and mine-life extension programs at Henty and our growth at Maldon. Kaiser Reef Managing Director Brad Valiukas
The company was already sitting pretty at the end of September, with a healthy $40 million in cash and bullion bolstering its balance sheet. Notably, its turnaround had already shown up on the bottom line, swinging from a $20.24 million loss in FY2025 to a $16.8 million statutory after-tax profit in FY26, backed by a hefty $44.7 million cash inflow from operations. The balance sheet is also underpinned by a significant resource and reserve base across its two key projects.
All up, Kaiser's global resource stands at 5.53 million tonnes (Mt) grading 3.46 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 615,000 ounces.
Of that inventory, Kaiser’s Henty mine in Tasmania’s richly endowed Mount Read Volcanics belt hosts an eye-catching 429,000 ounces of gold grading 3.16 grams per tonne. The geological hotspot has spawned some of Tasmania’s biggest mining operations, including the legendary Rosebery and Mount Lyell mines.
Breaking it down further, Henty's ore reserve is 1.91 Mt at 3.22g/t for 198,000 ounces of gold, supporting a targeted production profile of 32,000 ounces per annum through its 300,000-tonne-per-annum (tpa) processing plant. In a shrewd move to sweat its assets, the company also kicked off an extra revenue stream from its Henty processing plant, recently striking a deal with fellow ASX-lister Flynn Gold to process third-party ore through the facility.
Over in Victoria’s historic Golden Triangle, Kaiser is advancing its high-grade Maldon gold play. The project, which has historically produced 1.75 million ounces of gold at a remarkable average grade of 28g/t, remains surprisingly under-explored. To that end, Kaiser has recently kicked off an underground drilling program to unlock some fresh upside.
Maldon features the fully permitted 200,000tpa Porcupine Flats processing facility, while its Union Hill deposit contains an indicated resource of 1.31Mt at a solid 4.44g/t gold for 187,000 ounces. Adding further shine to the Victorian operation, stockpiles at Union Hill and the A1 site contain a further 11,700 ounces of gold.
The retirement of the Auramet loan marks another significant financial milestone for Kaiser, cementing its two-pronged strategy to use cash from one gold-producing operation to bankroll growth at the other. With the Henty workhorse consistently delivering cash flow and a $40 million war chest in cash and bullion, the company appears to be in the driver's seat to fund its next growth phase at the high-grade Maldon project.
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