Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to Shaun Day, Managing Director of Greatland. Shaun, please go ahead.
Thanks, Krista, and welcome everyone. I'm pleased to present Greatland's March 2026 quarterly results. I'm joined on the call by Monique Connolly, Chief Financial Officer, Rowan Krasnoff, our Chief Development Officer, Otto Richter, our Chief Operating Officer, plus Andrew Bowler, our Head of Investor Relations. If we turn across to really the first content slide 5, we delivered another strong quarter producing 82,000 ounces of gold plus 4,000 tonnes of copper. All-in sustaining costs came in at AUD 2,056 per ounce, which was below the lower end of our full year guidance, which is a range of AUD 2,400-AUD 2,800 per ounce.
Year to date, we've now produced 250,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of AUD 2,136 per ounce. This positions us very strongly for the full year FY 2026 outcome, and we've said that we expect production to be around or slightly above the upper end of guidance with all-in sustaining cost towards that lower end of guidance. In the quarter, we sold 98,000 ounces of gold and 4,600 tonnes of copper. This delivered revenue of AUD 742 million, operating cash flow above AUD 450 million, and most importantly, you saw that record cash build of AUD 260 million for the quarter. That allowed us to close March with over AUD 1.2 billion at the bank, debt-free.
This is particularly beneficial in terms of de-risking the execution of our growth strategy. We announced an exceptional Telfer resource upgrade at the end of March, and that included expanding Telfer resource ounces to 8 million ounces. Group resources now stand just shy of 15 million ounces, and this substantial increase in the resource base has the potential to underpin a multi-decade operation at Telfer that operates alongside our world-class Havieron development project. When we announced that resource update, we also announced Greatland's first resource estimate for our 100% owned O'Callaghans tungsten deposit, and Rowan's gonna speak to that later in our call. Our record Telfer drilling program continues.
This is the 240,000-meter surge in drilling, with the drill bit delivering ounces at around AUD 5 an ounce. We're increasingly confident of extending that drill cadence at least partially into FY 2027, where we could end up extending that drill program out to, say, 360,000 meters of drilling. Turning to slide 7, we now look at the key drivers of what we felt was a really strong March quarter performance. In that West Dome open pit, total material mined again saw an increase through the quarter. We're now up to 6.8 million tons from when we started there, delivering about 4.4 million tons.
With that additional ore coming online from our new Stage Seven cutback has been a big part of the focus for us. It's the fifth consecutive quarter-on-quarter increase in total material mined since Greatland took ownership and now represents a 54% uplift in productivity, as a function of TMM, since we took over in March quarter last year. The continued growth is a result of improved productivity with a focus on the drill and blast has been improved bench turnover and opened up larger, more productive work fronts. Plus, we just started to see the benefit of that investment in open pit fleet in the back half of this quarter.
The open pit mill feed grade notched down slightly to just under 0.5 grams, as we saw a higher proportion of partially oxidized material or lower grade being fed directly into the processing plant rather than being stockpiled. This is all in line with our second half plan. While this result, you know, does notch down grade, it avoids the rehandling cost of removing that stockpile and has the added advantage of preserving some of those high grade ROM stockpiles. In terms of the Stage 7 open pit, pre-stripping continued with 2.9 million tonnes waste mined for the quarter at a strip ratio of 2.7 times. That's down from 4.3 times you observed last quarter as we move deeper into that ore body.
As more ore is exposed and the ore contribution increases, the overall Stage 7 design strip ratio is approximately 1.1 times. You'll see that continue to trend down, although we are looking at expansion opportunities around that Stage 7 design. Open pit grades reconciled as expected in the March quarter, which is another positive sign that our enhanced grade control system continues to deliver the improved reconciliation outcomes. Turning to the Main Dome underground, the ore mined was approximately 300,000 tonnes, which is again a record quarter for us. Underground development is progressing really strongly with 1,776 meters of development. Again, a new record in terms of productivity, and that includes about 368 meters of growth capital development.
The other important thing for us is we continue to develop out a second drive to that West Dome underground. That was progressed by about 255 meters. We're just under 80% complete on taking out that second drive to the West Dome underground. Turning to slide 8. In terms of processing operations, we milled 4.8 million tonnes at 0.59 grams gold head grade. We've milled tonnes up quarter-on-quarter. This result generated a modest decrease from the December quarter, but recoveries were tremendous again, running above 88% for the third quarter in a row. The 88% is a tremendous outcome and a great credit to the team.
Also, copper recoveries were the strongest we've seen at 82.6%, which again, was a really good processing outcome for us during the quarter. Turning to stockpiles. This quarter, we processed 1 million tonnes of ROM stockpiles. That's the high-grade stockpiles we have, with an estimated 1.9, almost 2 million tonnes at 0.69 grams gold remaining at the end of the quarter. During the March quarter, the drawdown was about 1 million tonnes of stockpiles. This was a reduction from last in that December quarter, where we drew down about 1.7 million tonnes of the high-grade stockpiles, and that reflects that increased feed, particularly from the open pit. Pleasingly, stockpile grades reconciled in line with our expectations for the quarter.
At the end of the quarter, we still have at surface those low-grade stockpiles of 20.6 million tonnes at about 0.33 grams plus copper. Some of that is expected to be incorporated into that FY 2027 mine plan as we continue to draw down that higher grade stockpile. We continue to work on the tail storage facilities with the TSF stage 3 lift completed on schedule, on budget, which again great testament to the team at site. That takes our ore tailing capacity out till March 2027 quarter. When we took over the asset, I think we had about four weeks, five weeks of float on that tails capacity. Pushing that out to 12 months is a really good outcome.
We're gonna commence the TSF stage 4 construction in April. That's already underway to continue to push that kind of bow wave of TSF capacity in front. In regards to supply chain impacts, just kind of very topical with the conflict in the Middle East. To date, we haven't seen any operational impacts from fuel or other consumables. That said, specifically on fuel supply sourced directly from a global oil major on a long-term contract, which continued to fulfill its obligations. We've seen no change in deliveries. The focus is continuity of supply for us across all goods and services, and I imagine this is common across the Australian economy and the resource sectors. We are actively managing our supply chain logistics and have appropriate response action plans in place if required.
Of note, Telfer maintains that really significant surface stockpile, just over 22 million tons at 0.36 grams gold at the end of the March quarter, equal to more than 12 months of mill feed. We think that's an exceptional buffer to have if there was ever a disruption. The Telfer mill is powered by WA Gas delivered to site by a dedicated Telfer gas pipeline. Telfer's underground operation utilizes an electric shaft hoist, reducing the diesel intensity of Greatland's highest grade ore sources. From a cost perspective, up until March 2026, fuel constituted approximately 3.8% of our total cost structure.
While there is a current elevation in the fuel price, and we've seen that almost double, it has been a limited direct impact on our cost base, given it's just 3.8% of direct costs. That said, escalation in fuel prices is generally inflationary across the economy, and that's gonna impact the resources sector as well. We're mindful of those indirect cost impacts as well. With that, I'll hand across to Monique.
Thanks, Shaun. As outlined earlier, we achieved an all-in sustaining cost of AUD 2,056 for the quarter and AUD 2,136 on a year-to-date basis. This is a great outcome driven by strong ounce production, good cost control, and stronger than budgeted copper by-product credits from the current copper prices. Our all-in sustaining margin for the quarter was AUD 4,717 per ounce. Looking at the key operating cost items, mining costs of AUD 82 million increased as planned due to higher overall ore mined, higher total material moved, and lower capitalized production stripping from stage seven, while maintaining consistent unit rates per ton across the quarters. Processing costs of AUD 82 million were lower than the prior quarter due to lower surface maintenance costs incurred during the planned March mill shutdown. The processing of less stage two material, which requires more reagents and consumables.
Sustaining CapEx of AUD 29 million was higher than the previous quarter due to higher spend on the underground development and site services costs of AUD 19 million were lower than the previous quarters, with costs always weighted towards the first half of FY 2026. Full year all-in sustaining cost is currently expected to trend towards the lower end of the guidance range of AUD 2,400-AUD 2,800. Given year to date all-in sustaining cost of AUD 2,136, the June quarter all-in sustaining cost is expected to be higher than previous quarters, which is driven by production being slightly lower off the back of ongoing lower grade stockpile trials.
Higher sustaining CapEx, which is planned to be heavily weighted to the last quarter, and you've seen that ramp up consistently quarter on quarter this financial year, and anticipated cost increases given the inflationary pressures as a result of the energy crisis that Shaun just spoke to. Turning to cash flow and finances, we generated revenue of AUD 742 million from sales of 98,000 ounces of gold at an average realized price of 6,773, and 4,600 tons of copper at a realized price of 15,800 per ton. Remembering that we began loading a shipment in late December, which only completed loading in early January, containing 17,000 ounces of gold. The sale was recognized in January for accounting purposes, but cash was received in December for AUD 119 million.
This resulted in Telfer's operating cash flow of AUD 450 million and AUD 260 million cash build after the FY 2025 annual tax payment of AUD 73 million. We closed the quarter with AUD 1.2 billion of cash and no debt, and we remain fully exposed to any upside in the gold price and down with downside protection via gold put options out to June 2027 at an average strike price of AUD 4,560 per ounce. In regards to non-cash movements, we have inventory movements of AUD 48.3 million and depreciation amortization for the quarter of AUD 43.6 million, and we've guided full year D&A of approximately AUD 140 million, weighted towards the second half of FY 2026. From a tax perspective, and also just to remind everyone that we've now moved into a taxpayer position.
As such, a quarterly tax installment of AUD 87 million was paid in April based on approximately 12% of installment income, which consists of sales and interest income for the March 2026 quarter. The tax installment for June 2026 quarter is expected to be paid in July, following which, it is expected Greatland will be reassessed by the ATO for monthly installments for FY 2027. The remaining FY 2028 tax return catch-up payment will then be paid in December 2026. Overall, the March quarter highlights the strong cash generating capacity of the business, further de-risking and providing flexibility in funding Havieron's development and Telfer's life extension opportunities. Turning to growth capital. As you know, FY 2026 is a significant year of investment at Telfer with a view of multi-year life extension.
Our growth capital program is progressing well and in line with plan at AUD 42 million spent during the March quarter across TSF stage three lift construction, which Shaun has already spoken to, which is now complete and providing our tailings capacity into 2027. Pre-planning work for TSF stage four lift commenced in April. West Dome stage 7 open pit growth stripping continued, and the underground development across Ares, VSC and West Dome, West Dome Underground, as well as the open pit mining fleet renewal program. Telfer's growth spend is tracking to our full year guidance of AUD 230 million-AUD 260 million. In terms of resource development and exploration, we spent AUD 16.7 million during the quarter, and at Havieron we spent AUD 27.5 million for feasibility study costs and early works. I now hand back to Shaun.
Thanks, Monique. Just while we're still on that slide, just to give you some very recent news actually from Friday. Subsequent to quarter end, Greatland did receive the Commonwealth EPBC environmental approval for Havieron. That's a really pleasing outcome, and I think the team did a great job at managing and, you know, controlling that outcome. We're really pleased, although, you know, it's needed at this time because just to remind people, we still are required also to have that state EPA approval. We continue to focus on that, although that continues to track on course. Getting the federal EPBC I think gives us more confidence about our time programmed there at Havieron is an important milestone for us.
With that, I'll turn to slide 13, which effectively just talks to that resource growth. Towards the end of the quarter, we delivered an updated resource estimate for Telfer with the acquisition cost of resource ounce at a compelling AUD 5 an ounce. The Telfer resource delivered significant growth, with Telfer adding an additional 4.8 million ounces of gold and bringing Telfer's total resource to 8 million ounces plus copper. You know, the resource program has been transformational. Since acquisition, it's now better than 13x multiple from that 600,000 ounces of Telfer resource that we acquired at acquisition just 15 months ago. This, along with Havieron, sees our group gold resource just shy of 15 million ounces.
Importantly, measured and indicated resources at Telfer grew to 3.8 million ounces, with this material to be considered as part of our reserve update, which will be delivered in the June quarter. In addition, Greatland released a resource estimate on the O'Callaghans tungsten deposit, which I mentioned Rowan Krasnoff will speak to later. Turning to slide 14. This provides a visual of the resource at Telfer. As you can see, there remains significant potential for further growth, resource and upgrade, resource categorization in that West Dome open pit. A maiden and very much interim, or initial resource at West Dome Underground added or identified six hundred thousand ounces of high-grade material within that West Dome Underground, and that remains a really key target for Greatland.
That second drive going out there, we think, expedites the opportunities there. The inclusion of the vertical stockwork corridor, the VSC, at the West Dome Underground into the resource was also a key highlight. That sits at the bottom of the previous only active sublevel caving and gives us an opportunity to consider extensions there. With Telfer's enlarged resource, along with that already at Havieron, it just shows the potential to underpin a multi-decade mining hub. Greatland's focus now shifts to advancing higher-grade underground opportunities to augment the opportunities we have there. That involves that flagship Havieron project, that West Dome Underground, that VSC, the vertical stockwork, which potentially extends to SLC.
Plus, in addition to that, you know, for good order, we still know that there's open pit opportunity to reenter, at least redrill that Main Dome open pit. Plus, we have the 100% owned southeast hub on existing mining leases, which provide, you know, a smaller high grade open pit opportunities. With that, I'll now pass across to Rowan Krasnoff, who will talk about O'Callaghans.
Thanks, Shaun. We were really pleased to announce our first Greatland resource estimate for our 100% owned O'Callaghans tungsten deposit alongside the Telfer resource update in late March. That resource demonstrates the scale and quality of the O'Callaghans deposit, which as you can see on this slide, is one of the world's largest high-grade tungsten deposits and located just 10 km from Telfer. The deposit also benefits from significant copper, zinc and lead byproduct credits. Just to provide background on tungsten and the market for it. Tungsten has been classified as a critical mineral by all Western countries. Its extreme melting point, hardness and density make it ideal and difficult to substitute for a number of applications, including in mining, construction, automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial and chemical uses. Aerospace and defense applications currently account for approximately 25% of global tungsten demand.
China currently produces about 80% of global tungsten supply, but imposed export controls on tungsten in early 2025. Historically, a net exporter of tungsten, China became a significant net importer of tungsten in 2025. These and other factors have contributed to about a 700% increase in tungsten prices since early 2025 to $3,000 per metric ton unit of APT. For context, our mineral resource estimate uses pricing of $450 per metric ton unit of APT. A lot of historical work has been completed on the project by previous owner Newcrest, including over 71,000 meters of drilling that has resulted in a very well-defined ore body.
Newcrest also did a detailed 2014 pre-feasibility study, which assessed a 2 million ton per annum mine with a standalone processing plant that would produce approximately 20% of current Western tungsten supply annually over a 25-year mine life. There are also potential synergy opportunities for O'Callaghans sharing some of the Telfer non-processing infrastructure. We are fortunate to have a 100% owned world-class project in a critical and in-demand metal. We're really focused at the moment on how we can create or realize value from it for shareholders. Given the strength of our balance sheet, we can optimize for medium- to long-term value. We recognize that the current market is structurally supportive to see O'Callaghans developed, as Western markets are desperately seeking to secure supply of tungsten, and O'Callaghans is a project with both scale and quality.
We want to do everything we can to ensure that O'Callaghans is one of the global tungsten projects that is progressed and prioritized in the current window. I'll now hand back to Shaun for closing remarks.
Thanks, Rowan. Just before we open up for questions, just to conclude on slide 17. We feel another really strong quarter from Greatland, giving us year-to-date production of 250,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of AUD 2,136 an ounce. This combined with the full upside exposure to the gold price, we remain unhedged, gave us quarterly operational cash flow of AUD 453 million, and importantly, a record cash build of AUD 260 million, and a closing cash balance of just over AUD 1.2 billion with no debt. Based on year-to-date performance, we are currently expecting full year production to be around or slightly above the upper end of guidance, and all-in sustaining costs to trend towards that lower end.
Delivery of the Telfer and O'Callaghans resource was a key highlight for the quarter and has the potential to underpin this multi-decade mining hub. While O'Callaghans presents an opportunity to deliver further value for shareholders in this record tungsten pricing environment that Rowan described. We also continue to invest in Telfer, in particular, our record 240,000-meter drilling program that has continued to deliver very encouraging results. We look forward to delivering a Telfer mineral reserve update in this current June quarter. With that, I'll invite Krista to open the line for questions.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, again press star one. Your first question comes from Adam Baker with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Hi, Shaun and team. Thanks for the quarterly. Just looking at recoveries, I mean, strong again at over 88%. Just wondering, once you integrate the lower grade stockpiles into the mill feed, what could we expect this recovery rate to drop to?
Yes, thanks, Adam. Look, importantly, you saw an increasing part of the blend in that March quarter of that lower grade, partially costed material. That's through a combination of a lot more direct tipping and as particularly as we develop that stage seven area, there's just more PCM to be able to put through. You actually saw a pretty, well, a great recovery outcome. You didn't really see an impact on that. We're doing a number of trials during this current June quarter where we're putting dedicated batch processing of PCM material. By the way, we did a couple of them in the March quarter as well. Again, you're seeing that in the results.
Look, we still feel maintaining north of 85%, we're confident about, but we're delighted when, you know, putting together three-quarters of 88%. We might have better visibility on that, you know, once we've finished these trials. So far, we haven't seen it have a big impact on recoveries, although I'd observe overall there should typically be some correlation between lower grade and a slight reduction in recoveries. That potentially continues to be our expectation, notwithstanding, you know, the positive data we've received today.
Okay, that's clear. It'd be remiss of me not to ask about guidance. I mean, clearly you're on the right end of guidance here, but particularly maybe one on costs. I mean, year to date at AUD 2,136 an ounce, clearly you're tracking below the lower end at AUD 2,400. Just wondering if the decision not to revise cost guidance lower, is that just predicated on some of the cost escalation that you've seen, such as the diesel price escalation like you called out, or is that predicated on a potential lower production output in the fourth quarter? Just any color on that would be helpful. Thank you.
Adam, it's probably more around the former, just the, you know, what you're seeing around kind of oil prices. You know, we think we have a very good handle on the direct cost input of that. But also I think the indirect costs is where we feel, you know, we still wanna see. Just a reminder, we think there's a little bit more sustaining CapEx in this June quarter. That said, it's just being a little bit measured just given the global kind of impact of the Middle East. But you know, we're really trending well on that. I think like everyone, we're, you know, closely monitoring the cost structure.
Okay, thanks. I'll hand it over.
Your next question comes from the line of Daniel Morgan with Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Hi. My question is just, I mean, fresh ore delivery during the quarter was a key highlight for me. Just wondering if you could give us color on just how sustainable this is, you know, talk to open pit material movements expected in the months ahead, ore tonnage, from the open pits and also the underground. Thank you.
Yeah. Thanks, Daniel. I might speak to that in reverse order. Look, I think we're really proud of what we've achieved in that underground. Daniel, you probably recall some of those early discussions from due diligence where the mine site in that underground was where at acquisition was right up to you know, right up to kind of planning. There's zero reserves there and it was a really challenging underground environment we took over. Look, just from hard work and dedication. That team has just made progress every quarter. You've seen quarter-on-quarter an increase in the productivity of development meters. That's been with very much an ambition of creating more flexibility in that underground, opening up additional phases, and you're starting to see the benefit of that additional flexibility in that underground.
Look, the 300,000 tons we got out of there, a new record quarter for us, together with really good development out to West Dome underground, which we think is an exciting opportunity. I think that our view on that underground has literally moved 180 degrees. We thought it was a really challenging environment, and that's not to say it's easy. There's still a lot of time, effort, and energy that's needed in that underground. The underground, I think has been just a tremendous success story for us.
I think the long-term underground opportunities are particularly exciting for Greatland in terms of West Dome, continuing the main dome underground, but also kind of thinking about that vertical stockwork and the SLC, because remember, we've got that hoist there that has an installed capacity underground crusher and hoist in excess of 6 million tons. Better leveraging that installed capacity we think is a really good growth opportunity for us. Moving to the open pit. Look, opening up the stage seven has been important for us, but look, increasing open pit productivity, same contractor, same fleet, same team, but increasing productivity by 53%, I think has been exceptional. You just started to see the benefit of the fleet renewal program in this quarter.
Literally in March, we deployed the new Cat 6060 digger. That's really good. We were able to take the old Cat 6060 unit 11 offline that had lower availability rates, the new one's performing really well. You'll hopefully start to see that kick in for the June quarter. We're also renewing the 793 fleet with a number of rebuilds. We've got a couple of new trucks on site. Sorry. Yeah. Well, actually a couple of new trucks on site as well, which are being delivered in this June quarter as well. We feel it is reasonably sustainable in terms of the combination of the fleet renewal and importantly, that resource work that feeds into the reserve.
Again, opening up bigger benches, understanding the opportunity, and it wouldn't surprise me if in FY 2027 you see us start new work on a new kind of what I'll call Stage 2 cutback. You know, that hopefully gives us some more opportunity. You know, having said that, you know, that can be offset a little bit by grade as we continue to push forward. I think the physical volumes and the physical productivity continues to trend really well for us.
Okay. Thank you. Might be in the weeds just a little bit, but the average realized price in the quarter was $6,773 an ounce, which on my calculations is $225 an ounce below the quarterly average in USD. Just wondering what drove that. I'd note that in prior quarters you were around the quarterly average, I calculate, of gold price. Thank you.
Yeah, potentially in the weeds there or a little bit of noise and I'm just trying to think of what that could be driven by. You know, potentially some true ups from previous concentrate sales coming through, Daniel. We'll take that offline and see if we've got a more robust answer on that one.
Yeah, I think we typically achieved basically average monthly prices. Look, some people might have outperformed a little bit and been better at, you know, hitting spikes in the gold price. We're pretty comfortable that we roughly achieve kind of average for each month, which is how we track it internally.
Yeah. Thank you. Just looking into the near term, is there any major shocks or drivers of performance that you just wanna call out that people should be aware of and that, you know, coming up soon?
Look, our major shutdown is in July, so that comes out of this quarter. Nothing kind of on the immediate focus, but that will kind of be brought into our FY 2027 planning. The only thing I might just shout out to the team is we did during the quarter crusher rebuilds on those motors. They were a bit behind logbook servicing under the previous owner. You know, the team did a great job.
You've seen the outcome this quarter, but that was a really important element for us to kind of de-risk that crushing capacity and really rapt with the work that the team did to really you can see in our quarterly results, which is tremendous by that maintenance team. We've really tried to change the mindset of maintenance at Telfer. You know, we're there for the next 20, you know, plus years. I think that's really been good for morale as well, that people see that investment that Greatland and the philosophy Greatland's taking to that.
Okay. Thanks, Shaun and team, for your perspectives.
Your next question comes from Kate McCutcheon with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, Shaun. You flagged the pit design changes in the reserve update in June. Can you just talk through what we can expect in the reserve update? I guess, how much of that Stage 2 extension area can we expect to come in? You just mentioned that may form part of the mine plan for 2027. Will West Dome Underground make it in, or does that need more time to come into the reserves? Just what we can expect in that June quarter update.
Thanks, Kate. Good question. I'll actually pass this across to Otto Richter, who can provide an update on that.
Thanks, Kate. As you've seen, that resource model was just released at the beginning of this month. We're currently working through that. If you look at the increase we've had on that indicated component of the resource, if I look at the West Dome open pit, that's gone up to over 100 million tons of indicated. Now, that is across the entire West Dome pit that's been drilled out. There's still some areas that we would like to put some more drilling in as we've seen changes and growth happening with this resource update. And on the underground side, we've got 3 million tons on indicated on the West Dome Underground, but a total of 8 million tons already been drilled if you include inferred. Now, that's just from that single drill drive access we currently have.
We're looking at extending that 'cause that West Dome is open both along strike and at depth, and we don't get full coverage from the current area we're drilling from. To answer your question in terms of what we can expect, it's a bit premature to comment on what will be in the reserve. If you look at the component of indicated material and the material growth that we've seen in that indicated material, we are expecting a material change. I'd like to highlight as well that Telfer Underground historically didn't actually have a reserve. That will be a material change in this next reserve update for the Telfer Underground.
If I just add to that. Look, I think the other element I'd just kinda emphasize is, you know, this 240,000-meter program, we really see holistically. It's not just about this reserve update. I think it's just an ongoing program out to effectively, you know, March 2027, the next resource update, and June 2027, the next reserve update. We could do something interim before that. I think, you know, we really like the progress we're making over that time period and this will be another interim update. Although, you know, we like to think positively.
Okay. Cool. Staying on forward-looking, West Dome Underground, we had the initial resource. Otto just spoke to some of the upside there. Can you remind me around the timing there? You need another decline to get to the crusher. Best case, or going well, could we see development tons in a couple of years? And how are you thinking about incremental tons there, or is some of that a bit early?
Look, I think firstly, we're really positive about it. This is the highest average grade you've seen at Telfer since the 2005 restart. This is a prize. We've put one drive out there, which has become our drilling platform. The second drive is 80% complete, and that will again develop, give us some more drilling platform, but also gives us a lot of the services, you know, just the air and water to make that more sustainable. I think in FY 2027 you'll see a third drive go across there, and that will effectively make a beeline, so to speak. It's about a 1.5 kilometer tram back to the existing underground crusher and hoist.
I think that infrastructure would effectively support development there and gives you an indication of our conviction, given we're investing in three drives out there. You know, that first 600,000 ounces I think very much is an interim look at that, and we think the volume we've already seen, which continues to excel and talks to the opportunity. Remember, there's been over 25 years of underground mining in that Main Dome Underground and West Dome Underground. You know, the opportunity there is not completely different. So in terms of timing and size, I think that we really need that reserve work to be more definitive. I think realistically, FY 2027 is a year of development. I think it comes into the frame for FY 2028 or so.
I think the opportunity is for West Dome Underground to actually beat Havieron into the mill. It's actually slightly higher grade. It's really important for us. It's a way to de-risk and give us, you know, a second avenue to increasing the proportion of high-grade underground feed into the Telfer mill.
Okay. That's clear. Thanks, Shaun.
Your next question comes from Ben Lyons with Jarden Securities Limited. Please go ahead.
Oh, thank you. Good day, Shaun. Congratulations on receiving the federal environmental approvals for Havieron. Clearly, that's a significant development and I know you've only had the weekend to have a cursory review of it. Just wondering, you know, I recall a couple of sensitive species in the Paterson region, you know, the greater bilby and the night parrots. Just wondering if there were any significant conditions that have been attached to that federal approval, in its first pass, like land offsets or conditions on operating hours or, you know, that proposed haul road route through to Telfer. Thanks.
Ben, thanks for the question. Glad someone highlighted it. Yeah, look, we're really pleased. I think that EPBC or the federal one's probably seen as the more you know complex to achieve. We're really pleased, the team, and I think they did a good job at kind of managing and controlling that process. As an extension of that, certainly at first pass, it's what we expected it to be. This is all positive. It includes the defining an offset area up there. We think that's really important. It's the first defined offset area up in the Paterson region. I think that gives us an opportunity for future development to expand and extend and continue to invest in that offset area.
That's kind of one of the hidden benefits of having done this work. The only, you know, concept there, which I think has already been reported, is Greatland initiated that we would just do day haulage. We thought that was a really good way to manage around concerns about, you know, nocturnal flights. You know, in terms of that, you know, where we've actually started a two-year monitoring process, we'll determine whether there are night parrots up there or not. We just felt it was a way to sort to effectively agree a path forward without being distracted by that. We've done monitoring in the past up there, which gives us a level of confidence.
Another two-year program, we think, creates a more, you know, a greater body of evidence for the EPA, both state and federal, to consider daytime and nighttime haulage. This is relatively small tonnage. It's you know 4 million tons. You know, this is a you know precious metal mine. So day haulage is very achievable. We'd love the flexibility of night haulage over time, but both are achievable. Yeah, we kind of celebrate this win, but we remain very focused now on getting that state EPA before we actually kick into kind of top gear.
Yeah. Cool. Thanks, Shaun. From memory, it was the federal approval that was really the main constraint on any further surface disturbance, like the evap ponds or commencing the drill pads for the blind boring for the TSF. Can those processes now commence given you've got the federal approvals, or do you have to wait for state before you can commence those critical path type developments? Thanks.
Ben, look, as you said in your first question, it's a first pass like fun. You know, to be open with you, kind of I challenged the team, you know, on Monday, which was a public holiday here in Perth for Anzac Day. Exactly that question, you know, does that allow us to press ahead with some of those lead time items? We're reviewing that as part of the detailed review of that documentation. But Ben, whether we can specifically do the evaporation ponds or not, we are doing kind of a number of early works up there right now. You know, we'll continue to press ahead.
I'm just kinda having a look in here, but I think there is a slide in here which kinda shows some of the works we've been doing. Oh, it's in the quarterly, sorry. In the quarterly, I think on slide 8, you can see that precast for kinda access into the underground. There's some basic cuts that we can do through that datum level. We have remobilized, we're ramping up the site and just doing a lot of the work that we think will provide for a quick ramp up. That's even things like standing up an emergency response team, making sure they're trained, all those things that can normally just slow you down a little bit on that ramp up.
We're trying to think of all of those things in advance to place as well. Whether we specifically start the evaporation ponds, I'll have to come back to you on. Overall, you should be aware that we are kind of walking up the early works there and have been for the last couple of months.
Yeah. Cool. Got it. Thanks, Shaun. Maybe just one last one on O'Callaghans, please. You know, clearly it's a globally strategic and significant asset and, you know, maybe it represents some significant hidden value in the Greatland portfolio. Fantastic to have 100% ownership and ultimate flexibility over the development or potential divestment pathway for such a fantastic ore body. Just noting that some of those pure play tungsten producers globally have got some, very elevated market capitalizations, which would imply they've got a very low cost of equity, and certainly, a fulsome ability to pay for exposure to an asset like O'Callaghans. Just at a high level sort of conceptual approach, how important is it for Greatland to retain any economic exposure to that development? Or, you know, would you consider a full divestment?
As I said, great to have all of the options at your disposal at present. Thanks.
Thanks, Ben. Yeah, look, I think truly all options remain on the table. You know, whether that's a partial divestment or a complete divestment, a joint venture, a spin out, you know, or a Greatland development, although I think Greatland concurrently developing O'Callaghans alongside Havieron is probably the least likely outcome. As you say, it's a very strong market presently. You know, but that doesn't just lend itself to a sale. There are other options that I think can be attractive and we're fortunate in the sense that we have a strong balance sheet, we can be patient, and we can optimize for medium to long-term value.
Got it. Thank you, Rowan. I'll pass it on. Thank you.
We have no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the conference back over to Shaun Day for closing comments.
Thanks very much, Krista. Look, really, firstly, thanks for everyone for dialing in. We appreciate it. Look, we thought the March quarter was strong. Positions ourselves for a successful FY 2026 in terms of ounce profile and cost. Progress at Havieron, AUD 1.2 billion in the bank, that gives us the opportunity to undertake and deliver Havieron, but also these other growth opportunities such as the West Dome Underground, other opportunities in the underground such as the vertical stockwork, but also importantly the open pit. Continuing to deliver Stage 7, but also looking at that really big Stage 2 opportunity. Plus, you know, we think the success of that resource program or drilling program was really good.
I think there's a real opportunity to see us kind of move that 240,000 meters of drilling out to say 360,000 meters and just keep that cadence going into FY 2027 given the success we've had and how it sets up Telfer Havieron for a multi-decade opportunity. With that, thanks again for dialing in.
Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's call. Thank you for joining, and you may now disconnect.