WA Gold Ltd is changing gears at its Abercromby gold project in WA after hitting more than an ounce to the tonne gold with the drill bit in a crucial location that now points to a much larger gold system than first thought.
Abercromby, which is located in the state’s prolific Wiluna-Agnew region, host to over 40 million ounces of gold endowment, already shows a 518,000 ounce resource going 1.45g/t gold which is now set to grow even further.
The company says all seven diamond drill holes from the latest program successfully intersected the targeted gold lode, confirming continuity of the mineralised system now over a minimum 500 metre strike length and delivering grades up to a whopping 35.21 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
The latest results from the phase-one resource development program include a 9-metre hit grading 3.07g/t gold from 361m, which contained a higher-grade 2.91 metre slice running at 5.25g/t gold within an interval of 31 metres at 1.16g/t gold.
Another hole delivered a 9.41 metre section going 2.89g/t gold from 356.59m, punctuated by a 0.38 metre intercept grading a bonanza 35.21g/t gold.
A third hole returned 3 metres at 5.9g/t gold from 314m, including a 0.61m intersection at a hefty 28.85g/t gold.
WA Gold says the results confirm the down-dip continuation of mineralisation both below and along strike from the current resource model with the system remaining open in all directions.
The drilling uncovered a big alteration zone up to 231m thick, which the company says indicates a much larger and more extensive gold system could be lurking at Abercromby. One hole returned a mammoth 231m intercept grading 0.25 g/t gold, pointing to a big halo of lower-grade mineralisation surrounding the higher-grade lodes.
WA Gold chief executive officer Ben Pollard said: "These results represent another important milestone in advancing Abercromby toward development. The 100% success rate in intersecting the eastern gold lode gives us increased confidence in the geological model that underpins our Scoping Study and will add ounces, at similar grades to the lode we’re targeting for initial exploitation via underground mining."
The company's scoping study at the project completed earlier this year outlined a rapid pathway to production, with a stage-one mine plan targeting 114,000 ounces of gold production over 4.5 years. The study projected strong pre-tax cashflows of $270 million from a remarkably low initial capital outlay of just $8 million. The plan would barely scratch the surface too, utilising only 20 per cent of the project's total JORC-compliant mineral resource.
The project is further de-risked by its location on granted mining leases and metallurgical studies that have confirmed the gold is free-milling with high recoveries of between 93 and 95 per cent using a conventional carbon-in-leach process. Notably, WA Gold also has a memorandum of understanding with Wiluna Mining to evaluate a potential toll treatment deal at the nearby Matilda CIL processing plant just 20 kilometres away.
While Abercromby is clearly the main event, the company also holds the Bullabulling project about 30kms west of Coolgardie. The ground sits adjacent to the 4.5-million-ounce Bullabulling gold mine with WA Gold being the only other significant independent tenement holder in the area. Previous reconnaissance work there has already hit high-grade gold, including 2m at 18.1 g/t, 12m at 2.3g/t and another hole of 4m at a tidy 10.12g/t.
With a 100 per cent strike rate from its latest drilling and results that both firm up the existing model and hint at a much larger system, WA Gold appears to be hitting its stride at Abercromby. The company is now gearing up for another 6000m of drilling this quarter, which will look to chase the mineralisation further along strike and at depth.
In parallel, management will continue to progress environmental, met, geo and mining studies and subject to the completion of these items, regulatory approvals and funding, WA Gold is targeting a final investment decision during 2027.If the latest results are any guide, punters will be keeping an eye out for the drill rods to start turning again in one of WA’s most storied gold districts.
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