New Murchison Gold Fires First Shot at Crown Prince as $15m Capital Raise Takes Flight
New Murchison Gold (ASX: NMG) is shedding its explorer label and donning the gold producer’s hat, with development now officially underway at its flagship Crown Prince project in WA’s Murchison region. After securing all required mining and environmental approvals, the company is wasting no time—with the first blast scheduled for 30 June and ore trucking to begin in September.
It’s a bold pivot backed by equally bold funding. The Perth-based junior has lined up a $15 million capital raising—$12 million via a placement and $3 million through a share purchase plan—to cover working capital and pre-revenue operating costs. The placement, priced at 1.7 cents per share (a 5.6% discount), is led by Canaccord Genuity and supported by Argonaut and Tamesis Partners. Westgold Resources, which holds a 15.74% stake in NMG, is maintaining its full pro-rata participation, throwing in up to $2.36 million.
Chief executive Alex Passmore described the approvals and site mobilisation as a “key milestone” for the company. “We look forward to rapidly bringing Crown Prince into production,” he said. “The capital raising positions the company strongly to deliver on its plans, and we thank investors for their ongoing support.”
Located within the Garden Gully Gold Project near Meekatharra, Crown Prince is set to deliver ore at an average grade of over 4g/t gold. The initial plan is to supply 40,000 tonnes per month to Westgold’s BBGO processing plant for at least two years, with the possibility of extended delivery subject to mine planning.
Mobilisation is already well advanced. Ozland Mining Services has been awarded the open pit mining contract following a competitive tender process, and critical gear—excavators, dump trucks, and pipelines—has begun arriving on site.
It’s not just the hardware arriving early. NMG has already conducted grade control drilling across the upper 50 metres of the orebody and commenced clearing following heritage clearance and cultural salvage work. Remaining approvals, including water abstraction licences and permits for handling dangerous goods, are well progressed.
From a cashflow perspective, NMG is playing it safe. While it closed the March quarter with $21.5 million in the bank, pre-revenue costs are estimated at around $7.5 million per month at full mining and crushing rates. That puts the capital raise in sharp context: this isn’t about expansion—it’s about surviving the final sprint to first gold.
Once the first ore hits the crusher, revenues are expected from October 2025 onwards. Until then, NMG will be burning cash to bring a high-grade deposit into production with minimum fuss.
It’s a textbook example of WA’s small-cap gold sector: resource-backed, investor-funded, and operations-driven. With approvals in hand and ore on the horizon, Crown Prince is shaping up as a jewel worth watching.