Astral carves Theia resource model in stone as drilling highlights gold consistency

• Astral Resources hits up to 3m at 99.9g/t in infill drilling at the Theia deposit within Mandilla
• Results strongly support resource model for Theia deposit which represents 75% of planned gold production
• Infill drilling confirms consistency of mineralisation, which helps de-risk future development

Special Report: Astral Resources’ plans for a standalone gold development at the Mandilla project near Kalgoorlie have been boosted by grade control drilling with results supporting the resource model for the primary Theia deposit.

Assays from the first 17 holes totalling 2030m in the company’s 99-hole infill reverse circulation drill program returned broad zones of gold mineralisation with some exceptional high-grade intersections.

Results received to date include:

• 32m grading 10.78g/t Au from a down-hole depth of 50m including 3m at 99.9g/t from 76m (AMRC029)
• 8m at 1.11g/t Au from 70m and 2m at 95.88g/t from 105m (AMRC023); and
• 1m at 19.8g/t Au from 45m and 34m at 1.56g/t from 62m (AMRC028).

Astral Resources (ASX:AAR) notes the infill results demonstrate a very strong correlation to the current Theia resource of 33.3Mt grading 1.1g/t, or 1.15Moz of contained gold.

The consistency of the gold grade at this stage also demonstrates a very strong correlation with the resource estimate.

“The results of the Theia infill program are critical to the successful development of the Mandilla gold project,” managing director Marc Ducler said.

“Theia represents approximately 75% of the gold production contemplated in the PFS, which highlights the importance of Theia to the overall project economics.”

He added the first set of results were strongly encouraging as they returned not just the high-grade gold mineralisation expected at Theia but also good consistency of mineralisation along the length of the hole in line with model predictions.

Mandilla project

The company’s flagship Mandilla sits in the northern Widgiemooltha greenstone belt, about 70km south of Kalgoorlie, an area that hosts world-class deposits such as the Golden Mile Super Pit, Gold Fields’ St Ives gold mine and Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) Beta Hunt gold mine.

Mandilla is no minnow either with a resource of 42Mt grading 1.1g/t, or 1.43Moz of contained gold, within the Theia, Iris, Eos and Hestia deposits.

Adding interest, about 63% of the resource is in the indicated category that has enough geological certainty for mine planning while metallurgical testing has demonstrated high gravity recoverable gold, fast leach kinetics and exceptional overall gold recoveries of up to 99.5% with low reagent consumptions and coarse grinding.

A pre-feasibility study released in June 2025 envisioned a standalone project with seven open pit mines (four at Mandilla and three at Feysville) feeding a 2.75Mtpa processing facility to produce 95,000ozpa gold in the first 12 years.

Using a conservative Australian gold price of $4250/oz, this is expected to deliver net present value – a measure of a project’s profitability – of $1.4bn at an 8% discount rate.

The infill drill program is aimed at increasing the drill density of a panel of the proposed stage 1 Theia pit to a 12m by 12m drill density.

Next steps

A second rig is continuing the 99-hole infill program at Theia with 26 holes drilled to date and assays pending for nine holes.

Once drilling at Mandilla and Spargoville are completed, the rig will return to Feysville project to complete a 17-hole program totalling 3000m at the Kamperman deposit and a 30-hole regional drill program.

A diamond rig will also be secured to carry out a 3000m program targeting high-grade structures within the Theia deposit.

Ducler said both the infill drilling and diamond drilling were “essential de-risking activities” for successful project development at Mandilla.

RC drilling is also underway at the KOMIR JV tenure with four holes for 482 metres of the 21-hole (2,500 metre) lithium exploration program completed to date.

This article was developed in collaboration with Astral Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.