Westgold Resources (TSX: WGX) has released a maiden resource estimate for another zone at their Beta Hunt mine in Western Australia. The estimate follows drill testing of only half of the known strike at the zone.
The maiden resource, conducted on the Fletcher Zone, follows a stage 1 effort of drilling testing just 1.0 kilometre of known strike, with a second stage of exploration to follow that will focus on strike and depth extensions.
Highlights from the estimate include:
- Indicated: 3.7 million tonnes at 2.5 g/t gold
- Contained resources of 295,000 ounces of gold
- Inferred: 27.3 million tonnes at 2.3 g/t gold
- Contained resources of 2,030,000 ounces of gold
On a combined basis, the Fletcher zone is said to contain an estimate 2.3 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 2.3 g/t gold. Mineralization has been identified to extend over a zone up to 500 metres in width, while strike has been defined 2 kilometres, and to a depth of 800 metres, with mineralization said to still remain open at depth.
Conversion drilling is said to have already begun at Fletcher, with a maiden ore reserve currently scheduled for 2026. The company is also said to be preparing to commence testing on the north extension of the Fletcher zone under the stage 2 program.
“This result points to the growth potential of Beta Hunt, and while this is a material milestone for Westgold, it is simply the first step on what is likely to be a multi-decade journey for Fletcher in an expanded Beta Hunt mine plan. Critically, mine life at Beta Hunt today exceeds ten years without any contribution from Fletcher. Mine outputs are lifting from the existing Western Flanks and A Zone mining areas and this improvement provides scope to evaluate the optimum mining and processing strategy for Fletcher, as it represents a transformational opportunity to further expand the scale of Beta Hunt outputs,” commented Wayne Bramwell, CEO of Westgold.
Westgold Resources last traded at $2.44 on the TSX.
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