NMR converts Blackjack’s strongest quarter into positive cash flow

Blackjack delivers a record production quarter

Native Mineral Resources Holdings Limited (ASX:NMR) has put its Blackjack operation through its most convincing quarter since the processing plant restarted in July 2025. The company outturned 2,330.9oz of fine gold in the three months to 30 September, up 83.8% on the June quarter and more than three times the 696.4oz produced in the same quarter a year earlier.

The improvement came from substantially better feed rather than a dramatic increase in throughput. Blackjack milled a record 70,987 dry tonnes, only 5% more than in the previous quarter, while reconciled head grade rose 75% to 1.10g/t. Reconciled gold recovered climbed 81% to 2,387.4oz, with plant recovery holding at a strong 94.7%. Mill availability reached 99.2%, compared with 93.7% in the June quarter, and weekly smelting became a regular rhythm with 12 smelts completed.

The monthly figures show how quickly the quarter gathered pace. August produced a record 1,080.5oz of fine gold from a record 28,104 dry tonnes milled, followed by 923.8oz in September. The result builds on the previously reported record Q3 gold outturn and gives the company a stronger operating base heading into the December quarter. The report says laboratory capacity became the main constraint on smelting cadence in September, with NMR considering a second laboratory shift.

Positive cash flow arrives alongside refinancing

For a company that restarted production little more than a year ago, the financial milestone is nearly as important as the ounces. Net cash from operating activities was A$2.71 million, reversing a A$3.39 million outflow in the June quarter. Customer receipts more than doubled to A$14.27 million, while production payments rose 39% to A$6.82 million, leaving the quarter with a meaningful operating surplus.

That surplus should not be confused with a debt-free operation. NMR held only A$0.56 million in cash at quarter end, alongside A$15.53 million of drawn loan facilities and A$3.10 million of unused facilities. After the quarter, an A$18 million loan from Yogi Bear Holdings, an entity associated with managing director Blake Cannavo, was used to repay the Collins Street facility in full. The refinancing removed about A$11.56 million of scheduled repayments due between October 2026 and September 2027, although proposed security and risk-compensation shares remain subject to the relevant approvals.

Mid Pit and Podosky approach completion

Mining is now being managed around the next feed transition. Blackjack South Pit was completed in August after moving about 168,000 tonnes and delivering roughly 36,000 tonnes of plant feed. Mid Pit was 87% mined against its current design as at 9 October, with two blasts remaining and completion targeted for December. Mining resumed there on 1 October after a drilling, sampling, assaying and blasting program.

Podosky, operated through the Haoma Mining joint venture, supplied another large mining campaign, with 328,841 tonnes moved during the quarter, up 162% on the June quarter. Fourteen of 20 planned blasts were complete by 9 October, with six remaining and mining also targeted for completion in December. The immediate operational question is whether the company can complete both pits on schedule while maintaining the grade and weekly smelting cadence that produced this quarter's cash result.

North Pit becomes the next production bridge

NMR is seeking to avoid a gap after Mid Pit through its Blackjack North Pit program. More than 2,300 metres of a planned 6,000-metre, roughly 100-hole RC program had been drilled by late September. Early results included 19 metres at 3.09g/t gold from 41 metres in hole BJRC1304, including 4 metres at 13.79g/t, and 34 metres at 1.81g/t from 42 metres in BJRC1305.

Those are exploration results from an early drilling program, not yet a new reserve or mine plan. Geological modelling, pit design and peer review are scheduled before NMR's targeted late-January 2027 mining start, subject to results and approvals. The company is also preparing proving-up drilling at the Stockholm tenements under its new Citigold joint venture, while Far Fanning drilling is scheduled to begin in November. For now, the investment case rests on whether the record quarter can be repeated as the current pits run down, rather than on the growth pipeline alone.