The company has its sights set on moving from explorer to gold producer, and also confirmed it was likely to seek recapitalisation of between $1 million and $1.4 million in September, its first bid since December 2008.
Glass Earth has spent $22 million in investment funds on exploration since October 2006 and while its $1.85 million cash in hand is expected to see it through to July next year, it has signalled an urgency to move to producing gold to generate a cash flow.
Glass Earth chief executive Simon Henderson said gold from its McAdie prospect, in the Ida Valley, would be taken under its existing exploration permit during a bulk-testing programme.
However, a full mining licence was about to be applied for through Crown Minerals, and the company could embark on a full commercial operation by early November.
"If we want to accelerate mining in the Ida Valley, then it will be a fine line between that and running out of money," he said yesterday.
The extraction of alluvial [loose] gold around Otago has suddenly become more viable with high global spot gold prices during the past year, further boosted by a high New Zealand dollar which created a record $NZ1886 per ounce price in late February.
Mr Henderson said plant was going to the McAdie prospect in the Ida Valley next week, where it would process about 10 tonnes per hour of ore to remove alluvial gold, while plans were under way to install a 70-80 tonne per hour plant at Glass Earth's adjacent Gun Club prospect, its second alluvial target.
"It [McAdie and Gun Club bulk testing] is a two-pronged approach to reduce the cash outflow. We expect gold from bulk testing before the end of August," Mr Henderson said.
Aside from getting a full mining permit, the Ida Valley operations were not yet fully consented for water use.
No test results to date have been released, but Mr Henderson has estimated the break-even production target to be about 3000 ounces from alluvials.
Earlier this week, Glass Earth announced it had entered into a 50:50 joint venture with private gold explorer Ophir Gold Ltd and had committed to spend up to $250,000 evaluating a separate prospect near Omakau in Central Otago, potentially funding much of the the start-up costs if a decision to mine goes ahead.
Unlike the McAdie and Gun Club prospects with their loose alluvial gold in ore, the 640ha Ophir prospect has gold trapped in hard rock, understood to be relatively shallow and accessible by open pit extraction methods, Mr Henderson believes.
Since October 2006, Glass Earth had in its float and subsequent issues and placements raised $10 million, $6.3 million and $7.5 million - with $1.85 million cash in hand at the end of June, Mr Henderson said yesterday.
The share price of Glass Earth, dual listed on the mining-friendly Toronto stock exchange and the New Zealand stock exchange's alternative board, had been languishing around $C0.2c in March, which halted plans for recapitalisation because of the diluting effect on shares.
However, Mr Henderson said with shares trading around $C0.6c-$C0.8c, Glass Earth intended seeking a private placement from Canadian and New Zealand investors in September, in an effort to raise $C750,000 to $C1 million ($NZ1 million to $NZ1.35 million).
The resource sector marketplace had only recently regained interest in investing in exploration, following a widespread downturn because of the global credit crunch and risk-averse investors, he said.
For this reason, Glass Earth was only seeking a relatively "small recapitalisation" at this stage, he said.
