Licence Renewal Secures Waratah’s Spur Project Amid Challenging Drilling Conditions

Continued Momentum at Spur Project

Waratah Minerals (ASX: WTM) has delivered a robust quarterly update for the period ending March 2025, highlighting ongoing success in its exploration efforts at the Spur Gold and Copper Project in New South Wales. The company’s step-out reverse circulation (RC) drilling has extended the shallow epithermal gold mineralisation along the Spur Gold Corridor to over 2 kilometres, a significant increase from the previously reported 1km strike length.

Noteworthy drill results include high-grade down plunge extensions at the Spur zone, with hole SPRC063 intersecting 50 metres at 1.96 g/t gold from 160 metres, including a 23-metre section grading 3.48 g/t and an 8-metre interval at 7.87 g/t. Similarly, SPRC050 returned 74 metres at 1.34 g/t gold from 310 metres to end of hole, confirming a 100-metre downdip extension of mineralisation. These intercepts reinforce the potential for a structurally controlled, southerly plunging high-grade gold system.

Porphyry Potential Gains Traction

Alongside the epithermal gold targets, Waratah’s exploration has identified broad zones of porphyry pathfinder anomalism, particularly copper and molybdenum, at Dalcoath North. These geochemical signatures, coupled with alteration patterns, suggest an upgraded potential for wallrock-hosted porphyry mineralisation along the western margin of the main intrusive complex. This is a compelling development given the proximity to major deposits in the Macquarie Arc, such as Newmont’s Cadia Valley Project.

In late February, the company commenced diamond drilling at the Breccia West Prospect, targeting porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum mineralisation. This phase aims to test the nature, continuity, and structural controls of mineralisation with approximately 1,000 metres of oriented core drilling planned. Historic drilling at Breccia West returned an intercept of 108 metres at 0.52% copper and 0.22 g/t gold, underscoring the prospect’s significance.

Strategic Licence Renewal Secures Tenure

Crucially, Waratah Minerals secured a full renewal of exploration licence EL5238, which covers the Spur Project, extending tenure through to 20 February 2031. This renewal ensures continuity for the company’s exploration programs and provides a stable platform for advancing the project towards resource definition.

Beyond New South Wales, Waratah maintains a diversified portfolio with the Stavely-Stawell Gold Project in Victoria and the Azura Copper Project in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. While these projects remain at earlier stages, they represent additional avenues for value creation within the company’s broader strategy.

Financial Position and Outlook

As of 31 March 2025, Waratah Minerals held a cash balance of $2.4 million, with exploration and evaluation expenditure of $1.6 million during the quarter. The company reported no substantive mining production or development activities in this period, consistent with its focus on exploration advancement.

Looking ahead, Waratah’s drilling results at Spur, combined with the licence renewal and initiation of diamond drilling at Breccia West, position the company well to refine its geological models and potentially delineate a mineral resource. The market will be watching closely for further assay results and updates on the porphyry targets, which could materially enhance the project’s scale and economic potential.