Vertex Minerals to claim Reward as high-grade gold production looms

• Vertex has started first underground blasting at its Reward gold mine
• Company on track for high-grade ore production this quarter
• Mining of another very high-grade, long hole step brought forward to August 2025

Special Report: Vertex Minerals will soon move to high-grade gold production with the start of underground mining at its Reward gold mine in New South Wales’ East Lachlan Fold Belt.

The Lady Belmore Reef was blasted for the first time over the weekend, with fresh material to supplement low-grade gold stockpile feed at its already operational gravity processing plant.

The start of underground mining will enable Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX) to tap into the high-grade resource at Reward and dramatically increased processing grades, with milling of the stopes on track to begin this quarter.

Reward currently has a resource of 419,000t grading 16.72g/t, or 225,200oz of contained gold, with 70,500oz in the higher confidence indicated category.

Those grades are extraordinarily rare by modern standards.

The Gekko processing plant is believed to be ideally suited to the free milling, high-grade ore found at the underground mine and will also reduce water demands, which will further boost margins.

Smooth progress

VTX notes the Reward underground transformer station has been installed and powered up with cabling to the primary fan now completed.

It is also cleaning the access drives to the two starter stopes to prepare the way for the production rig to drill.

Meanwhile, Decline 3 developed on the Mica Vein is fully dewatered, ready to be flatback mined to provide further gold feed to the gravity plant.

This is part of the company’s plan to develop at least four mining fronts and maintain continuous feed to the plant, which will involve various mining methods.

Listen: Vertex on the pivotal switch to production

The start-up mine schedule includes mining 2075t at 17.8g/t gold from a developed airleg stope block. The planned stope width is the same as the interpretation of the mineralisation.

Given the stope will take some time to extract, the company has brought forward a very high-grade long hole stope to commence mining in August 2025.

This article was developed in collaboration with Vertex Minerals, 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.