About Avoca
Avoca is an ASX 200 gold mining and exploration company based in Perth, Australia. In April 2002, it was listed on the ASX. In late 2004, Avoca paid A$6.25 million to Gold Fields Ltd for the Higginsville exploration project, located 130km south of Kalgoorlie.
In December 2004, Avoca discovered the high-grade Trident ore body, which is considered one of the best gold discoveries south of Kalgoorlie in the past 23 years. It forms the basis of the Higginsville project with an initial 581koz reserve. Management is confident that Higginsville will have a mine life of 10+ years. New high-grade ore bodies near Trident, including Athena and Apollo, have been discovered and Avoca's regional resource stands at 1.45 million ounces.
In April 2007, Avoca raised A$125 million to build its new mine and first gold production began in mid 2008. It has the rare distinction of building a new 1Mtpa treatment plant on time and under budget, and is now the third largest underground gold miner in Western Australia. The Higginsville Gold Operation is the first new gold operation in Western Australia since 2001. The company has 260 employees and contractors on site and is targeting 180,000 ounces of gold production in FY2010 at a cash cost of approximately A$450 per ounce.
Avoca's managing director, Rohan Williams, has more than 15 years experience in the region having worked as a geologist at the 15+ million ounce St Ives field immediately north of Higginsville, and the 6+ million ounce Norseman field immediately to the south.
In January 2009, Avoca raised A$28.9 million equity at A$1.47 per share, which represented only a 4% discount to the market price of Avoca shares immediately prior to the raising - a significant achievement. The company has wide broker coverage and is generally viewed as a success story with competent management, winning two industry awards for its discovery of the Trident gold mine. It has a history of delivering above expectations and has a very supportive shareholder base.