Auric Mining Limited (ASX: AWJ) (“Auric” or “the Company”) has confirmed a major leadership change designed to accelerate its path toward becoming a self-sufficient, integrated gold producer in Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie region.
The appointment of Gareth Solly as CEO and Executive Director marks the beginning of a formal executive transition at the Company, with founder and current Managing Director Mark English set to remain as Executive and Finance Director through the handover and beyond.
The announcement, released to the ASX on 24 April 2026, follows the recent appointment of Scott Bailey as Processing Lead and positions Auric with an experienced leadership team ahead of its Burbanks Gold Plant construction program.
Gareth Solly Steps In as Chief Executive Officer
Gareth Solly commences as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer on 18 May 2026. His transition to Managing Director follows on 1 December 2026, at which point Mark English steps into the Executive and Finance Director role.
The transition has been structured to preserve continuity. English, the Company’s founder, remains on the board and brings 40 years of experience as a chartered accountant with a track record spanning major equity and debt raisings.
That financial backbone sits alongside Solly’s operational expertise as the Company enters its most capital-intensive phase to date.
Chairman Steven Morris described the appointment as the result of a deliberate strategy to build the executive bench ahead of the Burbanks construction:
“The Board is delighted to have secured Gareth to lead Auric through its next chapter of growth. His appointment is the culmination of a deliberate strategy to bolster our executive capabilities as we transition from a junior miner into a sustainable gold producer. Gareth’s reputation for disciplined capital management and his deep connections within the WA mining investment community will be invaluable as we scale our operations. By attracting a leader of this stature, we are demonstrating our commitment to transforming Auric into a significant player in the Goldfields and delivering long-term value for our shareholders.”
— Steven Morris, Chairman, Auric Mining Limited
Figure 1: Gareth Solly, incoming CEO and Executive Director. [Business News]
A Career Built on Mine-to-Mill Execution
Gareth Solly brings 20 years of hands-on experience in Western Australia’s gold sector. His career includes senior roles at Silver Lake Resources and Saracen Minerals before he took the founding Managing Director position at Black Cat Syndicate (ASX: BC8).
At Black Cat, Solly built an exploration-stage junior into a significant multi-asset gold producer. Under his leadership, the company grew from a circa $6 million exploration IPO into a business with approximately 100,000 ounces per annum in production, a 2.5 million ounce JORC resource base, and a market capitalisation of approximately $1 billion.
Two of those achievements are particularly relevant to Auric’s immediate plans. Solly led the acquisition and rapid refurbishment of the Paulsens Gold Mine, delivered ahead of schedule and under budget.
He also oversaw the acquisition and recommissioning of the Lakewood Processing Plant, a project his incoming Processing Lead, Scott Bailey, was directly involved in executing.
Mark English spoke directly to what that profile means for the Company:
“Gareth’s success at Black Cat is a blueprint for what we intend to achieve. He has a rare ‘mine-to-mill’ skillset — he knows how to find the ounces, but more importantly, he knows how to build the infrastructure and the team to produce gold bars. His track record in taking projects from exploration into production is exactly what Auric requires as we rebuild the Burbanks Mill. This appointment sends a clear message to the market: Auric is serious about building a significant gold enterprise in the Kalgoorlie region. I am honoured to be handing on the baton to such an outstanding person.”
— Mark English, Managing Director, Auric Mining Limited
What Solly Sees in Auric
The incoming CEO has followed the Company’s progress from the outside and came in with a clear view of what the opportunity represents.
“I have watched Auric’s transition from an explorer to a profitable miner with great interest. Auric has consolidated a highly prospective ground holding and the right assets to become a profitable self-sufficient gold producer. The opportunity to lead another company through the construction of its own processing hub and be rerated as a producer is incredibly compelling. I look forward to working with the Auric Mining Board and the recently appointed processing team to unlock the full value of Munda and our other regional assets.”
— Gareth Solly, incoming CEO, Auric Mining Limited
His initial mandate centres on three areas: Burbanks Gold Plant development, regional mine operations at the Munda Gold Mine and Jeffreys Find Gold Mine, and exploration work at the Spargoville Project.
Figure 2: Auric Mining’s project footprint across Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields, showing the Munda Gold Mine, Jeffreys Find Gold Mine, Spargoville Project, and the Burbanks Gold Plant site. [Auric Mining Limited]
The Burbanks Strategy: Owning the Infrastructure
Auric’s core strategic logic has been building toward a single outcome: controlling its own processing capacity. The Company has spent the past two years demonstrating it can mine and sell gold profitably, but toll milling at third-party facilities carries both cost and availability risk. That risk has grown as gold prices above $4,000 per ounce have driven a surge in mine activity across Western Australia’s Goldfields.
The Burbanks Gold Plant, located near Coolgardie, was operational in an earlier era of WA gold mining. Auric’s plan is to refurbish and recommission it as the Company’s own dedicated processing hub.
If successful, it would remove toll milling as a dependency and potentially allow the Company to offer processing services to nearby operators, creating an additional revenue stream that does not depend on expanding its own mine base.
Solly’s appointment alongside Scott Bailey gives the Company a two-person execution team for this phase. Bailey spent part of his earlier career at the original Burbanks Mill before moving through KCGM, Westgold Resources, and eventually Black Cat Syndicate, where he managed day-to-day gold operations and led the processing work at both Lakewood and Paulsens.
The overlap between Bailey’s processing background and Solly’s operational leadership experience is direct.
Structured Incentives Tied to Production and Resource Milestones
The remuneration package reflects the Company’s goal-oriented approach to the appointment. Solly will receive an annual salary of $450,000 inclusive of superannuation, along with a sign-on fee of $150,000 (inclusive of superannuation).
The appointment is on an indefinite term, with three months’ notice required by the executive and 12 months’ notice by the Company.
Subject to shareholder approval at the 2026 Annual General Meeting, Solly will receive the following short- and long-term incentives:
Options (5 years from issue)
Performance Rights (5 years from issue)
Table 1: Executive incentive structure for Gareth Solly, including options and performance rights subject to shareholder approval. [Auric Mining Limited]
The incentive structure connects Solly’s rewards directly to the milestones that matter most to shareholders: Burbanks capital and construction, resource growth at Munda, and cumulative gold output. It is performance-based across both short and long timeframes.
Built on Profitable Foundations
The appointment is not being made from a standing start. The Company has already reported three consecutive profitable years, culminating in a net profit of $5.2 million for the 2025 financial year, a 92% increase on the prior year. Revenue for FY2025 grew 144% to $20.6 million, free cash flow came in at $6.5 million, and total assets expanded 61% to $34.8 million.
That result was driven by two producing operations. The Jeffreys Find Gold Mine, operated as a joint venture near Norseman with BML Ventures of Kalgoorlie, delivered well in excess of $15 million in net receipts across its production campaigns.
The Munda Gold Mine, operated fully by Auric near Widgiemooltha, completed its Starter Pit campaign and began ore processing at nearby toll mills during 2025.
Munda holds approximately 200,000 ounces of gold resources. A scoping study published in 2023 estimated it could support up to 120,000 ounces of production over a three-year mine life.
The Spargoville Project, located along strike from the historic Wattle Dam gold mine, provides additional exploration upside to the portfolio.
Western Australia Gold: Conditions That Favour Operators
The broader conditions support the Company’s direction. Gold prices in Australia have remained well above $4,000 per ounce for an extended period, with safe-haven demand keeping the metal elevated globally.
Australia’s gold output is forecast to rise from 293 tonnes in 2024-25 to 369 tonnes in 2026-27, according to the Minerals Council of Australia.
That production growth has put pressure on processing capacity. Toll milling slots across WA’s regional gold processing facilities are increasingly difficult to secure at competitive rates.
For junior producers relying on third-party mills, this creates margin compression that is difficult to manage through exploration success alone.
Companies with their own processing capacity are better positioned to control costs, maintain production schedules, and capture margin improvements as the gold price moves. That is the position Auric is working toward.
Investor’s Outlook
Auric Mining Limited (ASX: AWJ) has built significant trading momentum over the past 12 months on the back of a profitable FY2025 result and a clear construction-stage strategy.
AWJ Share Price Performance (as at 24 April 2026)
Table 2: AWJ share price data. [ASX]
Figure 3: AWJ share price performance over the past 12 months. [ASX]
Key Upcoming Catalysts for AWJ Investors
- Burbanks Gold Plant construction timeline and capital plan under the new CEO
- Progression of Munda Campaign Two and ore processing activities
- Resource growth across Munda, Spargoville, and the broader Widgiemooltha tenement
- Shareholder approval of the executive incentive package at the 2026 AGM
- Exploration results from the Spargoville and Chalice West projects
DISCLAIMER
This article is published for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Colitco does not hold any position in Auric Mining Limited (ASX: AWJ). Readers should seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions. All data and figures are sourced from the Auric Mining Limited ASX announcement dated 24 April 2026 and from publicly available third-party sources. Share price and market capitalisation data reflect third-party figures as at 1 April 2026 and must be verified against live ASX data before publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Last modified: April 24, 2026
