Aeris beats production plan as Golden Plateau points to longer Cracow life
Aeris Resources delivered 9.3kt of copper equivalent production in the September quarter, ahead of plan, while its Golden Plateau gold resource tripled to 200koz. The growth push is gathering pace, but cash and receivables fell to $178.7 million as Constellation investment accelerated.
- 9.3kt of copper equivalent produced in Q1 FY27, ahead of plan
- Golden Plateau resource triples to 200koz of contained gold
- Constellation construction and waste stripping remain on schedule
- Cash and receivables fall to $178.7m with no debt
- Stockman feasibility study pushed back to H2 FY27
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Production Starts FY27 Ahead of Plan
Aeris Resources Limited (ASX:AIS) has opened FY27 with production ahead of plan, reporting 9.3kt of copper equivalent in the September quarter. Tritton delivered 5.9kt of copper, 2.0koz of gold and 44.0koz of silver, while Cracow produced 10.8koz of gold on a mining sequence that is expected to improve in the December quarter.
The result keeps both operations on track against full-year guidance of 22-27kt of copper, 42-51koz of gold and 130-160koz of silver. Tritton’s mill reached a record monthly throughput of 166kt in September, although copper output was lower than the June quarter as expected and recoveries were affected by dilution from oxide mineralisation at Murrawombie.
Constellation Investment Moves From Plan to Construction
The quarter’s more consequential shift was at Constellation, where open-pit waste stripping began in August and construction continued to schedule. About 5km of the planned 25km haul road has been completed and sealed, the water pipeline is finished, and site buildings, the run-of-mine stockpile and laydown areas are progressing. First ore is scheduled for delivery to the mill in March 2027.
Growth capital reached A$53.6 million at group level during the quarter, compared with A$23.5 million in the June quarter. At Tritton, the spend was mainly tied to Constellation, while additional development at Avoca Tank brought about 120kt of ore into the late-FY27 mine plan. That spending sits within Aeris’s full-year growth and project capital guidance of A$170 million to A$210 million, a program whose scale was set out in the company’s FY27 growth capital plan.
Golden Plateau Adds a Larger Cracow Mine-Life Option
At Cracow, the headline development is not this quarter’s 8.8koz of gold production but the resource update that followed it. Golden Plateau now contains 3.0 million tonnes at 2.1 grams per tonne of gold and 8 grams per tonne of silver, representing 200koz of contained gold and 750koz of contained silver. The gold inventory is three times the previous estimate, after 88 new holes totalling 16,204 metres.
The resource is not an Ore Reserve. Aeris is still working through mine design, metallurgical testing and permitting for a potential open-pit and underground operation, with another 15,000 metres of drilling planned in FY27. The deposit is about 1km from the processing plant and the company is targeting completion of permitting in FY28, giving the Golden Plateau resource increase a credible mine-life angle while leaving its economic and production contribution unresolved.
Cash Falls as Aeris Funds Its Next Phase
Cash and receivables declined from A$202.3 million to A$178.7 million during the quarter, including A$127.8 million of cash and A$50.8 million in Tritton receivables. Capital expenditure consumed A$72.4 million, while Aeris remained debt-free. The balance sheet therefore still provides a substantial funding base, but the direction of cash flow is being shaped by the company’s decision to spend heavily on growth projects.
There were smaller complications beneath the positive operating headline. Group all-in sustaining costs rose to A$125.4 million, or A$6.10 per pound of copper equivalent, from A$120.4 million and A$4.83 per pound in the prior quarter. Aeris also deferred the Stockman feasibility study after identifying opportunities to revise mine plans, infrastructure and metallurgical work; release is now expected in the second half of FY27.
Jaguar Drilling Supplies Targets, Not Yet a Discovery
Jaguar’s scout drilling added geological encouragement but no economic conclusion. Drilling confirmed prospective rhyolitic volcaniclastics, alteration and sulphides across several targets, while results included 12 metres at 0.24% zinc at Hera, 5 metres at 0.06% copper and 0.08% zinc at Atalanta, and an anomalous 11-metre interval at Panther. Aeris says the results warrant further investigation, with geophysical modelling and possible follow-up drilling now under way.
The next test is execution: whether Constellation reaches first ore in March, whether Avoca Tank’s additional mineralisation converts into mineable production, and whether Golden Plateau can move from a larger resource into an Ore Reserve. For now, Aeris is spending from a debt-free position to expand its operating base, but the returns on that spending remain several milestones away.
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Bottom Line?
Aeris has started FY27 strongly, but the investment case is moving from production delivery toward proving that Constellation and Golden Plateau can justify the capital being deployed.
Questions in the middle?
- Can Constellation maintain its construction schedule through first ore targeted for March 2027?
- How much of Golden Plateau’s 200koz resource can ultimately convert into an Ore Reserve?
- Will the higher growth capital program reduce cash faster than new production can replenish it?
Sources
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Quarterly Activities Report - Sept 2026 (opens in a new tab)Verified source. Aeris Resources Limited · 29 Oct 2026
