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You won’t find too many hippos in central Victoria – and Aureka exploration manager Jozef Story is good with that.
While visiting Barrick’s Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2021, Story took a side trip to a nearby nature reserve supported by the company. There, he spotted a hippo making its way from a river.
A little too close for comfort, Story was quick to retreat.
“I glanced at the hippo as it was making its way from the river, and made a beeline back to the hut ASAP,” he said.
After experiences like that, the well-travelled geologist takes Victoria’s potholed rural roads in his stride.
During a recent tour by ARI of Aureka’s Victorian projects, Story explained how a 25-year career spanning several continents had brought him back to familiar ground.
He joined Aureka in July last year after just over four years with Barrick in Tanzania. His experience also includes exploring central Victorian gold deposits with Castlemaine Goldfields.
Born and bred in central Victoria, Story welcomed the opportunity to return. The proposition put forward by Aureka managing director James Gurry, a former mining analyst with Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse who joined Aureka at the end of 2024, helped make the decision.
“I could see James was putting together a serious operation here and there was enough data to tell me the geology base was strong,” Story told Australian Resources and Investment.
Gurry credits Story’s application of international experience to Victorian geology with helping increase the company’s resources. In June, Aureka reported total JORC gold resources of more than 450,000 ounces, a 50 per cent increase since January 2025.
From explorer to producer
Its acquisition of High Grade Holdings, owner of the operating Fiddlers Creek gold-silver mine and Wedderburn processing mill, has now given those exploration ambitions a pathway to production.
The transaction has transformed Aureka, which has a market capitalisation of approximately $31 million, into a gold producer. It has also established the foundation for Gurry’s staged growth strategy: expand Fiddlers Creek, advance Comstock and work towards the larger opportunity at Irvine.
“Being able to own the mill outright means we don’t need a tolling agreement, which is very common in Western Australia and other places for small companies that have an advanced project and want to get some near-term production and cash flow,” Gurry told ARI.
“You can do a tolling agreement, but you often give away half of the margin when you do that.”
The acquisition’s $8.9 million base consideration comprised $2.5 million in cash and $6.4 million in Aureka shares, with up to $2 million in contingent payments tied to production milestones.
Gurry describes the combination as something of a merger: High Grade Holdings’ shareholders have joined Aureka’s register, while its operating team complements the explorer’s geological expertise.
“We’re not putting too much money at risk. We’re not betting the farm. We’re not taking on any external debt whatsoever,” he said.
Chief operating officer Zane Smith’s appointment preceded the acquisition, helping prepare the company for its transition into production. “He comes from a long career in mining and related engineering and is a local to the Stawell area,” Gurry said.
At Fiddlers Creek, the immediate priorities are recruiting more mine operators, introducing critical spares and upgrading equipment to make better use of existing approvals and available operating hours.
Near-mine drilling is another priority. The team has identified undrilled areas adjacent to existing mining levels, where shallow holes could provide relatively quick results.
“The good thing about gold we discover in the ground there is that we’ll be able to bring it into production within months,” Gurry said.
One operation funding the next
Wedderburn provides the processing link between Fiddlers Creek and Aureka’s development portfolio. The mill operates about two days a week, leaving spare capacity for Comstock ore once that project proceeds through development.
“We can invest incrementally in these operations to grow them when we’re ready,” he said.
Comstock forms part of Aureka’s holdings across the historic St Arnaud Goldfield. Its former open pit provides a starting point for development, although further work and approvals are required before production can resume.
“It was in production from 1992 to 1995, so the basic development’s been done for us.”
Gurry describes the portfolio strategy through a “Russian doll” analogy, with each operation helping support the next, progressively larger project.
“We can get that first nucleus of free cash flow and reinvest those profits into our brownfield Comstock project up at St Arnaud,” he said.
“It’s a step bigger than Fiddlers Creek, but it’s not the world’s biggest project by any stretch of the imagination.”
Aureka intends to run Fiddlers Creek and Comstock as twin operations, sharing staff and critical spares, using similarly sized declines and equipment, and feeding both mines into Wedderburn.
The road to Irvine
Beyond them sits Irvine what Gurry regards as the portfolio’s flagship growth opportunity – Irvine. Situated south of the Victor Smorgon Group-owned Stawell gold mine, it sits in a highly prospective gold district.
“That’s really the company-making project because it has million-ounce potential,” he said.
“We’re already at 400,000 ounces of inferred JORC resource there, and we drill it all the time to grow it. We call it the mothership project.”
An independent review in August identified fault structures that appear linked to known mineralisation, helping guide further exploration.
“It’s giving us stronger confidence in where to point the drill bit next,” Story said.
Gurry hopes cash generated by the smaller operations will help fund that work and subsequent development, reducing reliance on further equity raisings.
“It’s nice to have those baby steps to get there, and we can avoid desperate capital raises on the market if we’ve got our own smaller operations already in production,” he said.
The next milestones will test how that strategy translates into operating progress.
Before the end of 2026, Gurry wants additional staff in place at Fiddlers Creek, improved production and results from near-mine drilling.
In 2027, the focus shifts to securing Comstock’s licence and advancing development, while continuing to grow Fiddlers Creek and assess nearby opportunities.
Further out, Gurry sees 2028 and 2029 as a period of greater focus on Irvine, potentially advancing towards an investment decision or underground access, subject to exploration results, studies and approvals.
“We’re trying to build a track record of success and credibility by delivering on our promises for our projects and to our shareholders,” Gurry said.
Irvine at a glance:
- Location: 16km south of the operating Stawell Gold Mine (~five million ounces).
- Mineral resource: 398,000 ounces at 2.59g/t gold, classified as 100 per cent Inferred under JORC 2012.
- Additional exploration targets: Advanced target of 85,000–197,000 ounces and conceptual target of 151,000–348,000 ounces.
- Geological setting: On the margins of a basalt dome.
ARI visited Aureka’s Victorian projects as a guest of the company on an investor site tour.
The post From explorer to producer: Aureka’s Victorian gold ambitions appeared first on Australian Resources & Investment.