White Rock said it was in talks with an undisclosed third party over the Mt Carrington project. Credit: Dominik Vanyi on Unsplash.

Minerals resources exploration and development firm White Rock Minerals has placed its Morning Star gold project in Victoria, Australia, on care and maintenance.

White Rock Minerals executive director Simon Finnis called the move ‘very disappointing’.

Finnis said: “We were making good progress, and as we had reported, finding some really good grades in McNally’s Reef.

“However, due largely to funding pressures, it was decided that it would be imprudent to continue to operate the mine. We will take a step back and use the time to review the asset and make further decisions from there.”

The Morning Star gold mine, which historically produced 883,000oz of gold, comprises a shaft and winder, as well as an 80,000tpa gravity gold processing plant. It covers two mining licences.

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The move follows an internal review which determined that the earn-in requirements, the liabilities to be incurred with the increase in environmental security bonds; and the cost of care and maintenance were too high.

White Rock said it was in talks with an undisclosed third party, who showed an interest in acquiring a stake in the Mt Carrington project.

In a press statement, White Rock said: “Given these events, WRM is in the process of adjusting its half-year accounts, specifically the carrying value of both the Woods Point Gold Project and the Mt Carrington Project.

“WRM is working diligently to make the changes and will finalise and release these accounts as soon as possible.”