Rox clears tenure hurdle at Youanmi build

Rox Resources has signed a binding Native Title Mining Agreement with the Badimia Barna Native Title Claim Applicant covering its Youanmi gold mine, 480km northeast of Perth. It grants consent for the grant and renewal of future project tenements and for approvals across the mining, exploration and development footprint.

The agreement sets a framework for heritage protection, environmental consultation, employment, training and contracting, backed by an upfront payment and a production-based royalty. The Badimia representatives publicly credited the company's handling of cultural heritage during negotiations, which is not boilerplate and is worth noting.

The practical effect is that the tenure and consent leg of the project is now documented rather than pending, at a point when site activity is accelerating.

The November 2025 study outlined a production target of 817,000oz of doré over an initial seven-year processing period, averaging 117,000oz a year. At an A$5,200/oz gold price it estimated an A$1.4bn pre-tax net present value, a 69% internal rate of return, 1.6-year payback and all-in sustaining costs of A$1,978/oz, against A$383m of pre-production capital.

Funding is in place: A$218m of equity in late 2025, then A$350m of debt commitments from Societe Generale, SMBC, HSBC and Westpac, signed in April, with first drawdown expected this quarter subject to conditions.

The resource is the reason the economics look the way they do. Youanmi hosts 2.17Moz at 5.6g/t, including 2.1Moz underground at 6.0g/t, on ground that produced 667,000oz before closing in 1997.

A Native Title agreement is not a statutory approval. Heritage clearances, environmental conditions and ministerial consents still run on their own timetables, and an agreed framework speeds those up rather than replacing them.

The study's headline metrics are geared to an A$5,200/oz assumption. A sub-A$2,000 AISC gives real cushion, but the 69% return and 1.6-year payback compress quickly at a normalised price, and the debt facility is drawn against the same schedule.

Brownfield redevelopment carries its own tail. Dewatering the main pit is complete and rehabilitation of the historic decline has started, but old workings routinely produce ground conditions that were not in the geotechnical model.

First drawdown completed on the syndicated facility, plant commissioning milestones holding through the wet season, and underground development rates at United North sustaining the pace already reported ahead of feasibility assumptions.

On balance this is a well-sequenced build with the social and financing legs closed before the hard construction quarter. The remaining question is execution, which is the best category of risk to be left with.