Astral Resources eyes resource upgrade to ‘indicated’ at Mandilla gold project

Astral’s infill drilling at the Theia deposit supports a resource upgrade to indicated
The deposit is part of the Mandilla project in the Kalgoorlie Goldfields
Pre-feasibility study planned in the near-term

Special Report: Astral Resources is on the way to becoming a +100,000oz per annum gold producer in the Kalgoorlie Goldfields, with infill drilling paving the way for an upgrade from inferred to indicated resources at the Theia deposit of its Mandilla project.

The project is in the northern Widgiemooltha greenstone belt, approximately 70km south of the significant mining centre of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and in an area host to world-class deposits such as Northern Star Resources’ (ASX:NST) Golden Mile Super Pit, Gold Field’s St Ives mine and Westgold Resources’ (ASX:WGX) Beta Hunt mine.

To date, metallurgical testing undertaken on each of the main deposits at Mandilla – Theia, Iris, Eos and Hestia – has demonstrated high gravity recoverable gold, fast leach kinetics and exceptional overall gold recoveries with low reagent consumptions and coarse grinding.

The scoping study was based on a standalone project comprising three open pit mines feeding a 2.5Mtpa processing facility, producing 80 to 100koz per year, based on a gold price of A$2,750/oz. Given the recent exploration success at Kamperman (Feysville Gold Project) and the strong gold price environment the pre-feasibility is likely to be much bigger.

Best assays from the infill drilling program include:

8m at 1.82g/t gold from 29m and 33m at 1.82g/t gold from 64m, including 2m at 25.9g/t gold from 90m (MDRC886)
10m at 5.33g/t gold from 38m including 1m at 37.5g/t gold from 43m (MDRC908)
6m at 1.74g/t gold from 70m and 18m at 2.54g/t gold from 84m including 1m at 24.8g/t gold from 93m (MDRC906)
1m at 223g/t gold from 15m (MDRCD918)
1m at 21.3g/t gold from 12m and 22m at 0.53g/t gold from 60m (MDRC869).

“The recent 70-hole/6,512 metre in-fill drill program at Theia was designed to ensure that the Stage 1 and Stage 2 pits, as contemplated in the Mandilla scoping study, had the necessary drill density to satisfy the requirement for the mineral resources in this area to be classified as indicated,” Astral Resources (ASX:AAR) managing director Marc Ducler said.

“The assay results from this program will support that outcome.”

A diamond drill (DD) rig will also be mobilised this quarter to complete four deep infill holes ahead of an update to the Theia resource estimate, which is expected in the March Quarter, 2025.

Pre-feasibility study in the works

The RC rig has now been relocated to Mandilla to complete a 20-hole (3,579 metre) infill program at the Iris deposit, with several dedicated RC holes to be drilled for groundwater testing to support the hydrogeological study stream of the upcoming Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).

“Our attention at Mandilla is now turning to an infill RC program at Iris, for which 90% of the mineral resource is currently categorised as inferred,” Ducler said.

“This program will focus on the higher-grade portion of the Iris deposit. If this program is successful, further drilling will be undertaken.”

Once this program is complete, a 16-hole (2,540 metre) extensional drill program will be undertaken to test for extensions to the fresh rock gold mineralisation at the Eos deposit.

“Additionally, four RC pre-collars have been completed at Theia ahead of the expected arrival of a diamond drill rig in late October which will complete four diamond tail infill tests to feed into an updated Theia MRE,” Ducler said.

“Meanwhile, a 34-hole/3,750 metre RC drill program at Kamperman has recently been completed.

“This program targeted extensions to the north and north-east of the currently interpreted mineralised envelope.

“If this drilling is successful in extending the mineralised envelope, then a significant infill program will be required.”

Pic: Location of the Mandilla and Feysville gold projects. Source: AAR.

Accelerating exploration at Mandilla and Feysville

Notably, the scoping study did not include any contribution from Astral’s nearby Feysville project, which currently hosts a 116,000oz resource estimate.

“The update to the Feysville mineral resource is expected shortly,” Ducler said.

“This will kick off several technical work streams at Feysville aimed at collecting the necessary data to allow development of Feysville’s gold deposits as part of the Mandilla PFS.

“This is an exciting time for the company following the strongly supported institutional capital raise completed in late September.

“Astral now has the balance sheet strength to accelerate our exploration efforts at both Mandilla and Feysville and complete the necessary project studies as we advance towards becoming a plus 100,000oz pa gold producer in the heart of the Kalgoorlie Goldfields.”

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.