Key Highlights

  • The Mine Development and Closure Plan for Radio has been approved by the regulator.
  • The plan covers a new open pit, a restart of underground Mining and a lift of the second tailings storage facility.
  • A dedicated carbon-in-leach plant with a capacity of 120,000 tonnes a year is included in the plan.
  • One permit is still pending, while other permits are already in hand.

WIN Metals (ASX:WIN) says Western Australia's mines regulator, the DMPE, has approved the Mine Development and Closure Plan for its Radio Gold Project, about 8 kilometres north-west of Bullfinch in the Yilgarn region. The plan covers a new open pit, a restart of underground mining, a lift of the second tailings storage facility, known as TSF2, and a dedicated carbon-in-leach processing plant with a capacity of 120,000 tonnes a year.

Managing director and chief executive Steve Norregaard described the approval as "an important step in derisking the restart strategy". A Mine Development and Closure Plan sets out how a site will be developed, operated and ultimately rehabilitated, and its approval is generally one of the central permits needed before mining can begin on a Western Australian project.

Other permits in hand, one still pending

The company said it has also been granted an explosives magazine licence and approval from the Shire of Yilgarn for a 44-room accommodation camp at Bullfinch. Those approvals address practical needs for any restart, from blasting in the pit to housing a workforce close to site.

One significant approval remains outstanding. A Works Approval application lodged with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation on 18 September 2026 is still being assessed. Works approvals typically govern the construction of prescribed premises such as processing plants and tailings facilities, so the timing of that decision is likely to matter for when plant construction could proceed.

Plant and drilling activity this month

WIN said the Acquisition and relocation of a gravity plant is scheduled to begin on 16 November 2026. Separately, a 3,500 metre Reverse Circulation Drilling programme is due to start on 20 November 2026, covering Radio as well as the nearby Princess Royal and Stumpy prospects. The company said it is working towards a final Investment decision on the restart.

Those figures, together with financing arrangements, will be central to any investment decision. A final investment decision has not been made, and the outstanding works approval remains a condition the company still needs to satisfy.

Recent background at Butchers Creek

The approval follows a separate update on 4 November, when WIN announced tenure acquisitions at its Butchers Creek Gold Project in the Kimberley. It agreed to acquire two granted exploration licences from IGO and an option of five years over an exploration licence application held by Metal Bank (ASX:MBK), for upfront consideration of $115,000.

WIN said the deal lifts its Butchers Creek landholding by 62 per cent to 343 square kilometres, secures the footprint of a planned tailings storage Facility and adds ground immediately west of the existing open pit. Completion of the IGO acquisition is expected by 31 December 2026.

What to watch

For Radio, the key milestones disclosed are the DWER works approval decision, progress on relocating the gravity plant, results from the November drilling programme and an eventual final investment decision. Each step carries uncertainty around timing and cost, and small restart projects can be sensitive to gold prices, processing recoveries and construction schedules. The approval does narrow the list of permitting hurdles, but it does not by itself commit the company to production.