Inside America’s Eastern Gold Giant: OceanaGold’s Haile Mine

This Kitco Mining feature is sponsored by OceanaGold.

Kitco Mining goes on site at OceanaGold’s Haile Gold Mine in Kershaw, South Carolina, the fourth-largest gold mine in the United States and the largest east of the Mississippi.

Gold was first discovered at Haile in 1827. Nearly 200 years later, the mine is entering a new growth phase, with OceanaGold targeting a production increase of close to 35% in 2026 as higher-grade underground ore, continued open-pit mining and exploration across the Carolina Slate Belt reshape the operation.

Paul Harris tours Haile’s open pits, underground workings, processing plant, and exploration targets to examine how the mine is becoming a larger part of OceanaGold’s North American strategy following its April 7, 2026, listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker OGC.
Haile is expected to produce up to 260,000 oz of gold in 2026, provide about 45% of OceanaGold’s consolidated production, and continue advancing a $10 million exploration program targeting new ounces below and beyond the historic pits.

What’s inside:
• Carolina gold history and Haile’s modern restart
• 35% production growth expected in 2026
• Underground mining and lower-cost growth
• Blind discoveries below historic pits
• $10 million exploration program and 35,000 meters of drilling
• Refractory ore processing and advanced controls
• Kershaw workforce and local economic impact
• OceanaGold’s NYSE listing and U.S. investor push

00:23 - Carolina Gold History
01:11 - 2026 Growth and Costs
02:16 - Exploration and New Targets
03:40 - Shift to Underground Mining
05:13 - Processing Refractory Ore
06:53 - Leadership and Local Workforce
08:22 - Community Economic Impact
09:39 - OceanaGold Strategy and Outlook
10:22 - Milestones and Gold’s Moment
11:12 - Closing from South Carolina
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this podcast do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

I'm Paul Harris with Kiko Mining here at Oceana Gold's Hale Gold Mine, the fourth largest gold mine in the United States and the largest eastern Mississippi. The company is also the most recent gold company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. I'm here to find out a lot more. Come and join me. Long before the California gold rush of the 1840s, the Carolinas were the leading source of gold production in the Americas. Gold was first discovered at Hale in 1827 with the site seeing intermittent production in the decades that followed. The Hale mine produced more gold than any other mine east of the Mississippi, and accolade, the modern gold mine here at Hale, holds. The modern chapter at Hale began in 2007 with Rumaco Minerals, which following exploration began mine construction. Rumaco never became a producer, however, as Oceana Gold acquired Hale in 2015. Commercial production followed in 2017. Since then, Hale has produced over 1.4 million ounces of gold from open pit and underground mining methods.

SPEAKER_06 1:11

We got a really exciting production profile here at Hale, including 2026. We got six years of over 200,000 ounces produced here at Hale. Yeah, the production jump this year will be close to 35%, you know, which is really exciting for us. Primarily, a lot of the jump stems from the Hale Underground mine, which we transition into higher ore zones over the next 12 months.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Higher production at lower cost at Hale in 2026 raises the prospect of Oceania Gold delivering even better performance than in 2025 that saw a record profit, a 42% increase in the cash balance to $477 million, and that after repurchasing $175 million of its own stock and tripling its quarterly dividend.

SPEAKER_06 2:06

Look for those 1% opportunities to improve, and fundamentally, those 1% opportunities turn into significant gains at a higher price.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

And there is more to come as underground development and exploration along a prospective 5-kilometre corridor in the Carolina Slate Belt and up depth point to many more years of operation at Hale.

SPEAKER_06 2:27

Exploration opportunities at Hale are organic, which is extremely exciting not only for us on the site, but also for our shareholders. We've got record budgets set over the next few years to explore the site further and invest and create more opportunity for our future.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

A breakthrough at Hale was the discovery of mineralised bodies below the historical pits, blind discoveries with little or no superficial expression made by drilling. The exploration team has subsequently identified additional blind targets which look like they will be the ore bodies of the future.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

So, for the example at Hale, uh, you know, in this map, there were there were a number of small deposits that covered this area, each with its own name, uh, when Remarco came in. And they started drilling deeper and all of a sudden realized that that those things started to connect up. And as they got deeper, there was more and more gold to find.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

With a $10 million budget, Exploration Manager Sam Reed is looking to drill 35,000 meters this year, targeting resource conversion and resource development.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

So this year we're targeting about 300,000 ounces that we're trying to bring into that life of mine plan at various stages.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

The Hale mine consists of open pit and underground mining operations with pushbacks and new developments underway.

SPEAKER_06 3:49

We will over the next five years, you know, push uh two underground mines, be it Hale Underground Mine and Palomino Underground Mine, and that really transitions our production profile from primarily an open-cut mining operation to underground in the future.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Underground development is not only driven by geology but by more favourable economics, with the transition to underground mining being viewed as a far superior business case for Hale and the company.

SPEAKER_04 4:35

Horseshoe was the first installation of what is now three underground deposits. It's an extension of the snake pit. And then this year in January, we commenced uh development for Palomino, which is another extension of the pit. And then now we have a third extension to Lead Better called Lead Better Underground. Has increased the mine life, increased the reserve and grade fed to the mill while reducing waste. And as we've transitioned from contractor to owner operator, it has provided a better cost profile for the operation.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Mining is the first part of the production process. The gold then has to be extracted from the ore. The Carbonine Leach Flotation Plant is a far cry from the stamp mill that worked the ore more than 100 years ago. Processing manager Justin Johns explains the challenge.

SPEAKER_05 5:28

We have refractory ore bodies. The biggest component here in terms of our process is the fine grinding. And the fine grinding involves using a tau mill and an Izer mill, reducing the product to 14 microns or bug dust is maybe one word of putting it. And that gives us the ability to tap the potential gold and maximise the recovery. Our plant runs around that 2.8 to 3 million tonnes per annum, and recovery is around 2.5% above our feasibility.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

As with the mining operations, the operational efficiency of the plant is assisted by technology.

SPEAKER_05 6:13

It's one of our most advanced plants from an instrumentation and processing point of view. What we do to assist that in terms of making money is run advanced logic within the control with also exploring other avenues around artificial intelligence. Provide insights for the operational team in making good decisions quickly.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Bond brought some of his trusted operations lieutenants with him, including Asset President Matt Warner and later plant manager Justin Johns. These enable Hale to benefit from their global operations experience. Matt and Justin have settled in the nearby communities where Hale sources 80% of its workforce and where there is a strong local connection. Asset President Matt Warner sees culture as a key success factor at Hale.

SPEAKER_06 7:29

Culture is really important to me and really important to this site. In my opinion, it stems from us being local to the community. A lot of the people that work here at Hale are in the surrounding regions and have an invested interest in what we're doing on this site, but also what we do for the community. You know, we have mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons that work here on this site, and we're going to set ourselves up for the next generation of miners in this community and in the region. Everyone's invested for a common goal to ensure that we execute safe work and more importantly that we set up generational wealth and growth here at Hale for our future.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Hale's culture is an element that is driving higher financial performance to the benefit of Oceania Gold shareholders.

SPEAKER_06 8:15

The ability to be able to motivate everyone on this side with a common goal to deliver the outcomes required for Hale to be successful.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Hale's success has been Kershaw's success too, facilitating an economic and financial renaissance with an annual economic impact estimated to be in the order of $700 million. Higher gold prices and higher production will only increase this. For many residents, however, Hale represents more than just a paycheck.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Kershaw was reborn. We were struggling economically.