Waratah Minerals has established a maiden mineral resource of 3.1 million ounces (Moz) of gold at its Spur project in New South Wales, with further drilling planned to expand the resource towards 5Moz.
The initial estimate covers the Spur and Consols gold zones and comprises 82.9 million tonnes grading 1.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold. Approximately 27 per cent of the resource is classified as indicated, with the remaining 73 per cent classified as inferred. The estimate was developed from 175 drill holes totalling 72,890m and covers approximately 2km of the project’s 6km high-priority gold corridor.
Waratah managing director Peter Duerden said the maiden resource provided a foundation for further exploration.
“The delivery of a 3.1Moz maiden gold resource at 1.2 g/t Au is a defining milestone for Waratah Minerals and establishes Spur as a significant emerging gold district in New South Wales,” Duerden said.
“Importantly, we believe this is only the beginning. The maiden resource covers approximately 2km of the 6km high-priority Spur Gold Corridor, while the 5.1–10.4Moz exploration target demonstrates the substantial scale of the opportunity that remains outside the current resource.”
Waratah has separately outlined a conceptual exploration target of 5.1–10.4 million ounces of gold across extensions of known mineralisation outside the maiden resource. The target covers an estimated 287–350 million tonnes of mineralised material at grades ranging from 0.6–0.9g/t gold.
The company cautioned that the exploration target is conceptual and that insufficient exploration has been completed to establish a mineral resource in those areas.
Of the maiden resource, approximately 2.32 million ounces are associated with potential open-pit mining and 760,000 ounces with potential underground mining.
Waratah has 12 diamond drill rigs operating at Spur and plans to complete approximately 50,000m of drilling over the next six months. A total of 353 drill holes have been permitted as the company works towards its next resource growth target of 5Moz.
Waratah reported an all-in discovery cost of $14.62 per ounce, including acquisition costs, with the maiden estimate delivered within 14 months of the discovery drill hole at Consols.
Duerden said the company would continue drilling across the wider mineralised corridor.
“Our immediate objective is to grow the resource towards 5Moz [gold] while continuing to test the broader potential of the Spur gold corridor,” he said.
“This maiden resource represents the foundation from which we intend to build a significantly larger gold resource.”
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.