Maritana Minerals Limited (ASX: MRT) — West Australian Gold Developer Targeting Standalone Production via Refurbished Processing Hub
- Noel Ong
- 14 hours ago
- 10 min read
Black Swan Processing Hub Refurbishment Funded and Underway: Maritana Minerals Limited Presents Its Pathway to Standalone Gold Production in the WA Goldfields
Samso News | ASX: MRT | Source: Maritana Minerals Limited - Investor Presentation - Mining Forum Europe , 15 April 2026
Maritana Minerals Limited (ASX: MRT) was Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX: HRZ) before a name change announced on the 10th April 2026. The company was on a Coffee with Samso in August 2025, where Grant Haywood, the Managing Director and CEO, shared with us the business that was to become what is now called Maritana Minerals Limited.
My interest in the story stems from the fact that at that time, this was a gold-producing story that was pretty much "undervalued" in terms of a business that was pretty much producing gold. For those who remember, the gold price was "surging" at that time at USD $3200 per ounce. It reached a high of USD $5,600 and is now currently sitting at USD $4,600 per ounce.
Similarly, the share price of Maritana Minerals rose from AUD $0.67 to a high of AUD $1.51 and with the falling gold price, the share price is now at AUD $0.75 with a market capitalisation of AUD $277M. At the time we published the Coffee with Samso, the market capitalisation of Maritana (then Horizon Minerals Limited) was around AUD $100M. The increase in market capitalisation has increased with an aggressive capital raise since that time.
Is it time to have a relook at this opportunity?
The Business of Maritana Minerals Limited
Maritana Minerals operates in a space where the key risk variables for a development-stage gold company are resource definition, processing infrastructure, funding, and permitting. In the strict terms of being a gold producer, Maritan is not quite there yet, and for those that have been following their story, is this a case of on-risk or de-risking situation?
From a Samso point of view, the potential positives are that Maritana Minerals' Black Swan Processing Hub is now 100%-owned with the potential of a 2.2Mtpa processing facility that removes the need to build a new plant from the ground up, cutting both capital requirements and development timelines relative to a greenfield approach.
The company's A$175M equity raise has been completed, placing the project in a funded position ahead of construction. The study results have been published, FEED is underway, major approvals are in place, and long lead items have been ordered.
For a development-stage company, the number of open variables is potentially materially lower than is typical at this stage. The Black Swan refurbishment approach is a model that Samso considers worth tracking as the company moves toward its mid-2027 first gold production target.
Maritana Minerals Limited (ASX: MRT) — West Australian Gold Developer Targeting Standalone Production via Refurbished Processing Hub - The Facts.
Maritana Minerals is a West Australian gold developer that holds a 1,167km² land package centred around the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie regions of Western Australia, underpinned by a 1.9Moz Mineral Resource at 1.7g/t Au. Its cornerstone asset is the Black Swan Processing Hub — a 2.2Mtpa processing facility currently in care and maintenance, located approximately 50km northeast of Kalgoorlie.
The company's stated strategy is to refurbish Black Swan and convert it to gold processing, using a hub-and-spoke model to draw ore from multiple deposits across its landholding. A feasibility study supports an operation producing an average of approximately 102,000 ounces of gold per year over a five-year mine plan, with first gold targeted for mid-2027. The company is fully funded for plant refurbishment and mine development, having completed an A$175M equity raise in February 2026.
In addition to its gold assets, Maritana holds the Nimbus Silver-Zinc deposit located 44km from Black Swan, which contains 20.2Moz of silver and 104kt of zinc.
Introducing the Presentation
Maritana Minerals Limited presented its April 2026 investor presentation at the Mining Forum Europe, setting out the current status of the Black Swan Processing Hub development and the company's pathway to first gold production. The presentation consolidates the key milestones reached since the company's rebrand from Horizon Minerals and details the funded position, study results, resource base, and construction timeline that underpin the company's stated plan to become a standalone West Australian gold producer by mid-2027.
The core of the presentation is the Black Swan Processing Hub, a 2.2Mtpa facility currently in care and maintenance, located approximately 50km northeast of Kalgoorlie. The company's strategy is to refurbish and convert this plant to gold processing, avoiding the cost and timeline associated with a new build.
The study results support a project-level pre-tax NPV of approximately A$631M at an 8% discount rate and an IRR of 83%, using a base case gold price of A$5,500 per ounce. At the time of the presentation, spot gold was reported at A$7,300 per ounce. Pre-production capital has been estimated at A$160.5M, with a capital intensity of approximately A$1,500 per ounce, and payback of 18 months from plant commissioning at the base case gold price.
The company completed an A$175M equity raise in February 2026, with a further A$4.65M raised through a Share Purchase Plan, placing the project in a fully funded position for plant refurbishment and mine development.
Front End Engineering Design (FEED) is underway, the Final Investment Decision (FID) is expected in the second quarter of 2026, and plant construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2026.
The company has also reported that major environmental and regulatory approvals are in place, and that long lead items — including motors and variable speed drives — have been ordered. Ore stockpiling at Boorara has commenced, with 460,000 tonnes at 1.21g/t gold reported as a de-risked startup inventory ahead of plant commissioning.
Highlights
Management Commentary
Grant Haywood, Managing Director and CEO of Maritana Minerals, has framed the Black Swan Processing Hub as the foundation of the company's plan to become a standalone West Australian gold producer. The investor presentation positions the project as a low capital intensity, expedited pathway to production, with Haywood and the board pointing to the use of existing processing infrastructure as the key differentiator relative to a greenfield development.
"All elements in place to support aspirational target to become a ~100kozpa GOLD producer." — Maritana Minerals Limited, April 2026 Investor Presentation
The presentation highlights that the project benefits from key approvals already being in place, long lead items having been ordered, and FEED studies being underway.
Maritana Minerals Limtied has communicated that construction is expected to commence from mid-2026, with commissioning in early 2027 and first gold production by mid-2027. The board and management team, which includes a Project Director and Project Manager in addition to executive leadership, has been presented as having operational experience relevant to mine development and production in the Western Australian goldfields.
On the subject of project economics, the company has highlighted that the base case study was run at A$5,500/oz gold and that the spot price at the time of the presentation was A$7,300/oz. The company has not presented updated economics at the spot price, but has included a sensitivity analysis showing that gold price is the most significant variable affecting NPV — with a 20% increase in the gold price producing an optimistic NPV materially above the A$631M base case figure.
Near-Term Milestones to Watch
Key Delivery Points Between Now and First Gold Production at Black Swan
Samso Concluding Comments
Putting the Black Swan Development in Context
Despite the recent fall in share price which is consistent with the gold price pulling back, Maritana Minerals, as of April 2026 is still a story that a number of development-stage gold companies in Western Australia have sought but fewer have reached at this point in the cycle. Maritana has published feasibility study, a funded balance sheet, major approvals in place, long lead items ordered, and a concrete construction timeline.
Readers should remember that the Black Swan Processing Hub does represent an estimated replacement value of over A$200M. The company is acquiring access to that asset for a refurbishment capital cost of approximately A$101M. The pre-production capital total of A$160.5M, which includes mining capital, is funded without debt from the capital raise completed in February 2026.
The current mine plan is for five years and 546,000 ounces. The Burbanks high-grade underground mine, with its 465,500-ounce Mineral Resource and historical production grade of 22.7g/t, is not included in that plan and while it sits as a real potential to add ounces, this is still a work in progress. I would probably prefer to keep this as a pie in the sky for now.
A Mineral Resource for Burbanks upgrade is scheduled for mid-2026 and is expected to be incorporated into a combined pre-feasibility study and updated life of mine plan. If that process proceeds on the stated timeline, investors should have a clearer picture of the mine life beyond the initial five years by the end of 2026.
The Black Swan site itself has also been identified as carrying gold prospectivity that has not been systematically tested. Grnt did mention this as early as the Coffee wiht Samso that only 5% of historical drill assays at the site tested for gold, and a 6.5km gold trend has been identified adjacent to the existing infrastructure. Neither of these represents a confirmed resource addition at this stage, but both represent additional optionality within the existing landholding.
The economics presented in the feasibility study are based on a gold price of A$5,500 per ounce. The spot gold price at the time of the investor presentation was reported at A$7,300 (Currently AUD $6300) per ounce, so at the current state of the market, this has to be considered.
The AISC of A$3,353/oz at base case, against a spot price of A$7,300/oz, did represent a margin that was meaningful to track as construction capital is committed and cash costs are refined through FEED.
With the changing dynamics that is always full of surprise, if the view is that the gold price will continue to move upwards with time, then this may be a situation of a second chance to get in on the story; however, if the gold price did move further downwards, then waiting may be the right mvoe for investors. In the space of mining, the details are important.
Previous Samso News Coverage
Samso has followed Maritana Minerals (formerly Horizon Minerals) across multiple ASX releases. The following represents our prior published coverage of the company:
October 8, 2025 -
September 2, 2025 -
August 21, 2025 -
August 1, 2025 -
July 27, 2025 -
June 29, 2025 -
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