Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX,TSX:WGX,OTCQX:WGXRF) released a maiden resource estimate for Stage 1 at the Fletcher zone, located at its Western Australia-based Beta Hunt gold mine, on Monday (June 23).
It stands at 31 million metric tons at 2.3 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold for 2.3 million ounces of gold.
According to the company, Stage 1 drilling at Fletcher only tested 1 kilometer of the zone's 2 kilometers of known strike. Planning for a Stage 2 program is now in the works and will test strike and depth extensions.
In September 2024, Westgold shared a Stage 1 exploration target for Fletcher, saying it came in at 12 million to 16 million metric tons at 2.1 to 2.5 g/t gold for 0.8 million to 1.2 million ounces of the yellow metal.
Of the current resource, 3.71 million metric tons at 2.5 g/t gold for 295,000 ounces of gold are in the indicated category, while 27.27 million metric tons at 2.3 g/t gold for 2.03 million ounces of gold are inferred.
Stage 1 Fletcher zone resource estimate.
Chart via Westgold Resources.
“Westgold is rapidly unlocking the value we identified at Beta Hunt. This is a circa 7 kilometers long, multi-lode mineralized system that is under-drilled,” said Managing Director and CEO Wayne Bramwell.
Beta Hunt is located 600 kilometers from Perth in Kambalda. Hosting both gold and nickel resources, the mine was developed in the 1970s. All nickel rights and production were assumed by Reliance Mining in 2003.
Fletcher is Beta Hunt’s third mineralized zone and is central to Westgold’s strategy for the mine. Beta Hunt's mine life is currently estimated at over 10 years, not including Fletcher’s participation.
“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,” Bramwell added.
According to Westgold’s latest quarterly report, Beta Hunt's mined grade for the period was in line with reserve grades, with 363,000 metric tons at 2.79 g/t gold for 32,498 ounces of gold.
Primary ventilation upgrades at the mine are expected to be done toward the end of 2025. Power upgrades are also in progress, and completion of the rising main upgrade is expected in early 2026.
Westgold said it is targeting a maiden ore reserve for Stage 1 at Fletcher in 2026.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
