Rox Resources managing director and CEO Phillip Wilding is confident of debt finance falling into place as the company progresses rapidly to becoming a high-grade gold producer at its flagship Youanmi project in Western Australia.

"It's the grade, the margin and the upside," Wilding says of Youanmi.

"It's a super high-grade orebody, the margins aren't far off industry-leading and as for the upside, we're only really scratching the surface of what we're seeing."

A definitive feasibility study released this month outlined a seven-year operation producing an average 117,000 ounces per annum at all-in sustaining cost of A$1,978/oz, well below the current gold price of A$6,200/oz.

It's forecast to generate pre-tax free cash flow of $2.2 billion, with a pre-tax NPV₈ of A$1.4 billion and IRR of 69%, based on a A$5,200/oz gold price.

Youanmi hosts a 12.1 million tonne resource grading 5.6g/t for 2.2 million ounces and the underground production target is 5.7Mt at 4.9g/t to deliver 900,000oz.

"Not many juniors become developers, let alone build mills, for a multitude of reasons," Wilding said.

"But we're in a position where we can deliver construction of this project and we've proven we can fund it.

"With the recently released DFS, we've confirmed we have a technically and financially viable project which has a long initial mine life, high grades, low cost, strong cashflows, and all in a great mining jurisdiction in WA."

Funding support

Rox has received commitments from institutional investors in a A$200 million placement, which sets the company up to cover approximately 40% of the A$450 million project funding requirement.

"The biggest reason for the support is we're delivering on what we planned," Wilding said.

"We put out the pathway to production in November last year and we have ticked every box, which culminated with the release of the DFS last week, as promised."

He said the permitting process was underway in parallel, Rox had delivered on underground resource growth and metallurgical work and had consistently communicated progress.

"The rest of the funding will come via debt from traditional banks, with whom we're in very advanced discussions, and representing circa 60% of funding will help ensure it's on great terms," Wilding said.

"We've been running the debt process in parallel with other project workstreams since April – we had nine or 10 banks come on the journey with us and we've narrowed it down to seven.

"This is a project with astounding financials, the returns at today's gold price are over A$3 billion in cashflow, and really, it's a modest capital requirement."

He expects financing to conclude in January, to be followed by a final investment decision, and then construction of the mill.

Early orders will start for the mill in the coming weeks, while dewatering continues and underground development has begun with contractor Byrnecut Australia mobilised to site and making the first cut for the exploration decline in the United North pit earlier this month.

As part of Rox's comprehensive derisking, it will stockpile about 190,000t at 3.3g/t to derisk the mill commissioning and ramp-up process.

The company is aiming for first gold in mid-2027.

The upside

Despite the focus on getting into production, Wilding isn't overlooking Youanmi's strong growth potential.

Recent assay results include 3m at 19.05g/t from 57.7m at the Currans area, and 4.12m at 14.86g/t at Midway between the Youanmi and Bunker pits.

Further exploration is planned for early 2026 and with lots happening, Wilding paid tribute to the team he's built.

"It's a fantastic team, they are proven mine developers," he said.

"There are contingencies built in here so we are confident we can do it."