Maritana Minerals is firing up the drill rigs in a massive 60,000-metre resource conversion program across four of its Western Australian gold projects to de-risk its mineable ounces for the company’s soon-to-be commissioned Black Swan processing hub near Kalgoorlie.
The fully funded reverse circulation (RC) blitz will look to upgrade a hefty slice of the company’s 1.88-million-ounce gold inventory into the higher-confidence indicated category, with the program initially locked in on its Boorara, Coote, Gordons Dam and Crake projects.
The company says its first rig is already running at Boorara, with four RC rigs planned to be operational across its portfolio by early August.
The program at Boorara is particularly significant, as it is slated to be the first cash-generating ore source for the Black Swan hub restart, which is targeting first gold by mid-2027.
Management says the current drilling at Boorara will target down-dip resource definition ahead of mining kicking off, with a handy 460,000-tonne stockpile of ore, containing 14,600 ounces of gold, already sitting on the run-of-mine pad at the project and ready to go.
The broader campaign will see drilling at Coote and Crake undertaken on a nominal 40m-by-40m infill spacing, while Boorara will be drilled as a two-rig program.
The work follows a recent 15,700m stage-one program at its high-grade, narrow vein Burbanks project, where stage-two diamond drilling is already probing for more ounces beyond the known lodes.
Maritana Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Grant Haywood said: “The resource conversion drilling program is a disciplined, fully funded step that converts the strength of our existing resource base into mine-ready confidence. By focusing first on resource conversion across Boorara, Coote, Gordons Dam and Crake, we are de-risking mine planning to support the Black Swan Processing Hub project.”
Maritana says further extensional drilling programs will also look to test expansions of the existing known orebodies. The company says it will roll out the programs in stages, advancing only where drilling confirms a genuine value-accretive opportunity or a near-term cash-generation prospect.
In a separate move, Maritana says it is also planning a first-pass aircore drilling program in July at its Wilson’s greenfields prospect, which sits adjacent to the Black Swan hub.
As the rods start spinning on a massive resource program, Maritana is methodically ticking the boxes required to transition from explorer to producer.
If the campaign delivers as planned, the company could be well placed to feed its Black Swan hub with a growing pipeline of ounces as the march to first gold gathers pace.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Andrew Todd
