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Maritana Minerals has intersected 36m at 3.53 grams per tonne (g/t) gold beneath the planned southern open pit at its Boorara gold project in Western Australia, strengthening the potential for resource growth ahead of a planned mining restart in 2027.
The intersection, which included 1m at 62.44g/t gold from 156m, was returned from drilling beneath Pit 4, where mineralisation has been confirmed below the current pit design and remains open at depth.
The result forms part of the final batch of assays from Maritana’s 119-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign, with results received from the remaining 52 holes.
Additional infill drilling returned 20m at 7.77g/t gold from 100m, including 2m at approximately 54g/t, while other intersections included 19m at 1.63g/t gold from 108m and 19m at 1.32g/t gold from 66m.
Maritana managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Grant Haywood said the results reinforced confidence in Boorara’s resource potential.
“The infill drilling is better defining the main contact lodes and indicating that gold mineralisation is wider in places than previously understood,” Haywood said.
“Importantly, the down-plunge drilling beneath Pit 4 in the south of the Boorara system confirms mineralisation extends well below the current pit design and remains open at depth.”
The latest drilling has improved the geological definition of the main contact lodes and identified opportunities to extend mineralisation beyond the existing resource envelope.
Located approximately 17km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Boorara is expected to become an important ore source for Maritana’s Black Swan processing hub.
It was previously reported that the completed Boorara drilling campaign forms part of a broader 60,000m resource-conversion program designed to strengthen mine planning across Maritana’s Goldfields portfolio.
Maritana said that it is targeting a mining restart at Boorara in mid-2027, with first gold production from Black Swan planned for the second half of that year.
The company also recently secured the remaining statutory approvals for the Black Swan processing plant and extended its early works agreement with GR Engineering Services to maintain construction and procurement activities.
The processing hub is designed to accommodate approximately 2.5 million tonnes of ore annually, supporting feed from Boorara and other deposits.
“With the Boorara program now complete, these results will be incorporated into an updated mineral resource estimate and pit optimisation work, supporting ore reserve updates and the life-of-mine plan for Maritana,” Haywood said.
“This work is strategically sequenced ahead of the restart of mining at Boorara in mid-2027 and first gold from the BSPH.”
Maritana said it expects to complete the updated Boorara mineral resource estimate during the March quarter of 2027, with further diamond drilling and grade-control work planned ahead of mining.
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