Capricorn Metals will move forward with its Karlawinda expansion project, having received approval from the Western Australia Government.

The Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety signed off on Capricorn’s Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan, which details the key project changes.

The approval allows for expanded mining activities at Capricorn’s Bibra, Southern Corridor and Berwick open pits, construction and development of a new tailing storage facility, an additional run-of-mine pad, extensions to the southern waste dump, and construction works for an expanded processing plant.

The expansion project will incorporate the installation of a new parallel three-stage crushing and ball mill circuit to increase total processing capacity to 6.5 million tonnes per annum. The company said this would increase the site’s gold production to 150,000 ounces per year.

Capricorn executive chairman Mark Clark said the approval was the culmination of more than 12 months of planning work.

“We are really excited to have received approval for the construction and development of the Karlawinda expansion project,” he said, adding that the regulatory sign-off “should allow an expedited start to construction”.

“We look forward to delivering a project that will lift gold production at the low-cost, high-margin Karlawinda operation by 25 per cent.”

The expansion project was developed in late 2024, and will require $120 million in total capital investment. Capricorn is expected to finish constructing the expanded plant by the fourth quarter of the 2025–26 financial year.