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Wiluna Mining Corporation has commenced a major reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign targeting approximately 20 priority gold prospects at Wiluna Northwest in Western Australia, marking the first phase of its post-initial public offering (IPO) exploration strategy.
The campaign will investigate shallow oxide and transitional gold mineralisation across historical mining areas, targeting resource extensions and potential additional ore sources close to existing processing infrastructure.
Wiluna Northwest comprises several historical open pits and mineralised corridors that have received limited exploration over the past two decades.
Wiluna managing director Victor Rajasooriar said the program represented an important step in revitalising the company’s exploration activities.
“We’re excited to have surface drilling at Wiluna Northwest underway as the first phase of what will be one of the largest exploration programs undertaken at Wiluna in many years,” Rajasooriar said.
“The aim of our surface drilling is to better define and grow near surface resources, with a strong emphasis on targets with potential to host free milling gold mineralisation.”
The drilling program forms part of Wiluna’s broader 140,000m surface exploration campaign planned over the next two years, funded through proceeds from its recent IPO.
Initial drilling has commenced at the Adelaide prospect, with further work targeting extensions to known mineralisation at Squib, Moonlight, Starlight, Lone Hand and Gunbarrel.
The program will also investigate previously underexplored gold anomalies considered prospective for shallow open-pit resources, with drilling expected to continue over the next three months.
The latest development follows Wiluna’s recent financial restructuring.
As previously reported, the company repaid approximately $40 million in outstanding debt to mining contractor Byrnecut, completing its post-IPO balance sheet reset and emerging free of secured debt.
The restructuring provided Wiluna with greater financial flexibility to advance its exploration and development strategy, which includes approximately 80,000m of underground drilling alongside the surface campaign.
“Through this lens we will be systematically testing a pipeline of high-priority targets within trucking distance of our existing processing infrastructure that have received little meaningful drilling over the past two decades,” Rajasooriar said.
Wiluna’s wider gold project hosts a mineral resource of 91.7 million tonnes grading 2.41 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, containing approximately 7.1 million ounces.
This includes 1.08 million ounces within existing open-pit resources, while underground deposits account for approximately 4.95 million ounces.
The company said it is targeting opportunities to improve resource confidence, identify additional near-mine mineralisation and support future technical studies assessing potential mining restarts.
“This program complements our planned underground drilling and rehabilitation activities to support the future restart of mining and processing operations at Wiluna in a sustainable and profitable manner,” Rajasooriar said.
Assay results are expected approximately four weeks after samples are submitted to the laboratory, with Wiluna planning further updates as drilling progresses.
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