St Barbara’s Nova Scotia strategy gains momentum despite a federal permitting detour

Touquoy restart clears its final approval hurdle

St Barbara Limited (ASX:SBM) has reached the operational milestone it has been working towards in Nova Scotia: the province has confirmed that all prerequisites for restarting ore processing at Touquoy have been met. First ore is scheduled to be processed during the official reopening ceremony on 3 November, with commissioning and operations expected to ramp up through November and December.

The restart is central to St Barbara’s shift towards a Nova Scotia-focused gold business after its proposed exit from Simberi. That transaction was previously framed as providing a potential funding base for the company’s regional development plans, while the earlier Simberi exit and buyback plan had already put shareholder returns into the conversation. The Touquoy restart is now moving from target to execution, although the announcement does not provide a new production or cash-flow forecast.

Federal review complicates the 15-Mile construction timetable

The more awkward development arrived on the same day. Canada’s Impact Assessment Agency has determined that the 15-Mile Processing Hub Project will require a federal impact assessment, despite a March cooperation agreement between the federal and Nova Scotia governments intended to support a “One Project, One Review” approach.

“IAA of Canada Proposed Permitting Timeline – 15-Mile Processing Hub Project.”

St Barbara said the extra process could add cost, workload and confusion. The agency has indicated that the assessment can still be completed before the company’s targeted construction start in mid-2028, while proposed Bill C-39 seeks to impose a 12-month limit on key federal approvals. Those are timing assurances, not a completed permitting outcome: the company says it will spend the next three weeks meeting federal and provincial governments before deciding its next steps, while also working through draft information and study requirements. This development touches the same project as the 15-Mile project expansion, which previously pointed to a larger reserve and longer mine life but remained dependent on execution.

St Barbara has begun contingency planning to seek provincial permission to resume mining at the Touquoy open pit. The proposed mining would supplement low and medium-grade stockpiles and could extend gold production beyond the currently scheduled 2027 calendar year, but it is a contingency rather than a committed production plan.

Old Austen adds 0.52 million ounces to the resource base

“Old Austen Mine Resource and Reserve Distinction, Nova Scotia, Canada.”

Against that permitting uncertainty, the resource update provides a clear growth signal. St Barbara has defined a maiden underground Mineral Resource at Old Austen Mine Down-Plunge of 4.8 million tonnes grading 3.4 grams per tonne gold, containing 520,000 ounces. The estimate sits outside the previously reported open-pit resource and comprises 2.0 million tonnes of Indicated material and 2.8 million tonnes classified as Inferred.

The addition lifts total Nova Scotia Mineral Resources to 67.6 million tonnes at 1.4 grams per tonne for 3.02 million ounces, up from 2.51 million ounces in July and 2.0 million ounces at 30 June 2026. The company describes that as a 50% increase in the first four months of its 2027 financial year, but the new underground ounces are not an Ore Reserve and no production schedule, capital estimate or development decision was announced.

Buyback gives shareholders a direct claim on the balance sheet

The board has also approved an on-market buyback of up to 100 million shares, expected to begin around 23 November and run over the following 12 months. Shares bought back will be cancelled. The program falls within the Corporations Act’s 10/12 limit and does not require shareholder approval, but St Barbara can vary, suspend or terminate it, and the actual volume will depend on the share price, liquidity, market conditions and future capital requirements.

That discretion matters. The buyback is a capital-allocation decision made alongside a restart that has only just received its final provincial clearance, a development project facing an additional federal review, and an underground resource that still needs drilling. The next hard evidence will come from Touquoy’s ramp-up, the government meetings on 15-Mile and the spring/summer 2027 drilling program designed to upgrade Inferred material and test depth extensions towards the Mud Lake Fault.