Burracoppin Gold Resource Rises to 82,700 Ounces at 1.2 g/t Au After Upgrade

Askari Metals has announced a significant 28% upgrade to the gold resource at its 100%-owned Burracoppin Gold Project in Western Australia, now containing 82,700 ounces of gold. The company highlights strong exploration potential and ongoing investor interest amid record gold prices.

  • JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate upgraded to 2.14Mt @ 1.2 g/t Au, totaling 82,700 ounces
  • Resource increase of 28% from previous estimate
  • Additional resource of 101,000 ounces at a lower 0.3 g/t Au cut-off grade
  • High-grade drill intercepts including 3m @ 17.41 g/t Au at Easter Gift prospect
  • Growing inbound investor and strategic interest amid strong gold market
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Resource Upgrade and Project Overview

Askari Metals Limited (ASX: AS2) has delivered a compelling update to the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Burracoppin Gold Project, located in the eastern wheat belt of Western Australia. The newly reported JORC (2012) compliant resource stands at 2.14 million tonnes grading 1.2 grams per tonne gold (capped), containing 82,700 ounces of gold. This represents a 28% increase over the previous resource estimate, underscoring the project's growing potential.

Situated just 15 kilometres west of the established Edna May Gold Mine operated by Ramelius Resources, Burracoppin benefits from proximity to existing infrastructure and a proven gold province. The project encompasses multiple mineralised zones, including the Benbur-Christmas Gift, Easter Gift, and Lone Tree prospects, which collectively extend over a strike length of approximately 3 kilometres.

Exploration Highlights and Drilling Success

Recent drilling campaigns by Askari have yielded several high-grade intercepts, notably a standout 3 metres at 17.41 g/t Au from 73 metres downhole at the Easter Gift prospect. Other significant results include 6 metres at 2.37 g/t Au from 31 metres at Benbur and 10 metres at 1.38 g/t Au from 34 metres at Christmas Gift. These intercepts confirm the continuity and quality of mineralisation near surface, which bodes well for potential open-pit extraction.

The updated resource also reports an alternate cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t Au, which increases the contained gold to 101,000 ounces over 3.6 million tonnes at 0.87 g/t Au. This flexibility in cut-off grades reflects the project's robustness and the potential to optimise mining scenarios as development progresses.

Strategic Position and Investor Interest

Askari's Director, Gino D'Anna, emphasised the renewed opportunities arising from the resource upgrade, noting that the project is approaching a 100,000-ounce aspirational target. The company is actively engaging with interested parties to explore potential transactions that could unlock additional shareholder value. The combination of a record-high Australian dollar gold price and encouraging drilling results has driven a notable increase in inbound investor and strategic interest.

Beyond the core tenement (E70/5049), adjoining exploration licences (E70/6127, E70/5997, and E70/5998) offer further discovery and resource growth potential, providing a broader platform for exploration success in the region.

Geological Context and Future Work

The Burracoppin Gold Project is hosted within an Archean greenstone belt featuring narrow, steeply dipping quartz-rich veins within pelitic metasediments, mafic granulites, and gabbroic rocks. Lateritic cover also hosts gold mineralisation, particularly in iron-rich zones. The mineralisation is open at depth and along strike, with the current drilling density sufficient to support an Inferred resource classification.

Askari plans to continue drilling to test high-priority targets, especially between the Benbur-Christmas Gift and Easter Gift prospects, where resource expansion is anticipated. The company also aims to explore areas under private land holdings, which have not yet been fully assessed.

Bottom Line?

With a substantial resource upgrade and strong market interest, Askari Metals is poised to accelerate Burracoppin’s development, but the next drilling phases will be critical to unlocking its full potential.

Questions in the middle?

  • How will Askari prioritise drilling targets to convert inferred resources into higher confidence categories?
  • What are the potential timelines and strategies for advancing Burracoppin towards production or a strategic transaction?
  • How might fluctuating gold prices and operational costs impact the economic viability of the Burracoppin project?