Decommissioning is substantially complete and the site is being prepared for gold processing

Sunshine Metals says all magnetite-associated processing equipment identified for removal has now been decommissioned as it prepares the former iron-ore facility for gold processing.

Site work has included upgrades and inspections around the existing mill equipment, assessment and reconditioning of water and tailings pumps, review of site mobile plant, fuel-storage equipment, generators and electrical switchgear, and rehabilitation of roads and earthworks.

Sunshine has also recommissioned the site office complex and progressed the re-establishment of the Mt Moss accommodation camp.

Those activities are important because the development strategy is based on reusing substantial existing infrastructure rather than constructing an entirely new processing plant.

Detech Engineering is advancing the detailed gold-circuit design

Engineering and long-lead procurement

Existing grinding infrastructure is being tied into a new gold circuit

Detech Engineering and Sunshine have progressed detailed design for conversion of the plant, including piping and instrumentation development and definition of the new carbon-in-leach, elution and refining systems.

Procurement has already started on long-lead components, including the elution circuit and gold room.

This means the project has moved beyond conceptual design: Sunshine is now ordering equipment while preparing the remaining construction and fabrication contracts.

Civil and fabrication packages are moving toward early-October finalisation

The strongest BBI angle in the September update is the visibility Sunshine provides on its next contractor requirements.

Civil and local fabrication packages are being prepared across several defined areas of the gold-processing conversion.

Mt Moss already contains the core infrastructure Sunshine wants to reuse

Sunshine completed its acquisition of 100% of the Mt Moss operation in July 2026.

The existing plant contains a grinding circuit with two ball mills and approximately 300,000 tonnes per year of capacity, together with tailings-storage infrastructure and substantial site services.

Sunshine's conversion strategy is to retain and refurbish the usable front-end infrastructure while installing the new leaching, adsorption, elution and refining systems required for gold recovery.

The site also includes workshops, offices, laydown space, accommodation and critical spares, reducing the amount of entirely new infrastructure required compared with a greenfield development.

Conversion strategy

Existing mill → new CIL circuit → elution → gold room

The former Mt Moss operation was developed around magnetite processing, but the existing grinding assets are the foundation of Sunshine's new gold-production strategy.

New downstream equipment is being added after the grinding circuit to create a conventional gold-processing flowsheet.

For contractors, this produces a refurbishment-heavy project rather than a pure greenfield build, with work spanning existing-asset rehabilitation, new structural fabrication, concrete, piping, mechanical installation, electrical integration and commissioning.

The earlier refurbishment estimate was $28.5 million — but September did not publish a revised total

Sunshine's April acquisition material included a preliminary costed work program for converting Mt Moss to gold processing.

That estimate totalled approximately $28.5 million, including leaching and adsorption infrastructure, grinding works, the gold room, reagent storage and general site expenses covering areas such as the camp, workshop, water and power.

The September update says Mt Moss remains on track and on budget, but it does not restate an updated total refurbishment CAPEX or disclose the value of the individual tender packages currently being prepared.

Mt Moss is the processing link in Sunshine's Liontown production strategy

Mt Moss is intended initially to process high-grade gold and silver ore from Sunshine's Liontown deposit, approximately 220 kilometres from the plant.

Sunshine's current strategy links development of Liontown with refurbishment of Mt Moss, giving the company its own processing pathway rather than relying entirely on external toll treatment.

The processing hub is also around 25 kilometres from Sunshine's Sybil epithermal gold project and provides operational infrastructure that could support the company's broader North Queensland exploration portfolio.

Contractors and suppliers looking for regional capability can also browse the BBI Townsville industrial directory, while broader Queensland project activity is available through BBI Project Watch.

Confirmed now versus the next delivery gates

Contractor watch

Early October is the next important commercial window

The project now has a relatively short runway between final design, tender completion and the targeted construction start.

Civil and fabrication awards will therefore provide the next clear signal of which local and regional contractors are moving into the Mt Moss delivery program.

BBI will also watch long-lead equipment delivery, construction mobilisation and whether Sunshine maintains its mid-2027 commissioning target.

What BBI will watch next