Pacgold Limited has announced a maiden JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 854,000 ounces of gold at its Alice River Gold Project in North Queensland, underpinning an aggressive 10,000m drilling campaign to expand and upgrade the resource.
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate of 26.7Mt @ 1.01 g/t Au for 854Koz gold
- Indicated resources total 12.2Mt @ 1.2 g/t Au for 474Koz gold at 0.5 g/t cut-off
- 2025 drilling program recommenced with 10,000m RC drilling underway
- Resource remains open along strike and at depth with only 5% of mineralised strike tested
- Metallurgical testwork shows high gold recoveries averaging 93.3%
Maiden Resource Marks a Milestone
Pacgold Limited (ASX:PGO) has delivered a significant milestone with the announcement of its maiden JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Alice River Gold Project, located 300km northwest of Cairns in North Queensland. The global resource stands at 26.7 million tonnes grading 1.01 grams per tonne gold, containing 854,000 ounces of gold. Within this, the indicated category comprises 12.2 million tonnes at 1.2 g/t Au for 474,000 ounces, providing a solid foundation for the company’s exploration and development plans.
This initial resource confirms the presence of a large, continuous bulk tonnage gold system along the Alice River Fault Zone (ARFZ), a structure that remains largely underexplored with only about 5% of its known mineralised strike tested to date. The resource estimate reflects the culmination of four years of systematic exploration and drilling, validating the mineralisation model and the potential for significant upside.
Drilling Resumes with Ambitious Targets
Pacgold has recommenced its 2025 drill season with a 10,000-metre Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program, initially focused on the Central Target area to upgrade inferred resources and expand the mineral footprint. Approximately 2,000 metres have already been completed with excellent production rates. Following this, drilling will progress to the Southern Target, Posie, and multiple regional prospects including Jerry Dodds, The Shadows, and Victoria.
The company plans to complement drilling with regional geophysical surveys, including Induced Polarisation (IP) and magnetic programs, alongside heritage surveys to facilitate access. This integrated approach aims to delineate extensions of the mineralised system along more than 12 kilometres of strike, potentially unlocking a much larger resource base.
Resource Characteristics and Mining Potential
The Alice River resource is characterised by gold hosted in quartz veins and breccias within a granitic host, typical of intrusion-related gold systems (IRGS). The mineralisation extends from near surface to depths exceeding 400 metres, supporting both open pit and underground mining scenarios. The Central Target’s F1A zone, the most drilled and defined area, contains a high-grade core with a broader halo of lower-grade mineralisation, offering flexibility in mining methods.
Preliminary pit optimisation studies, assuming a gold price of AUD 5,000 per ounce and a 90% mill recovery, suggest the potential for a bulk tonnage open pit operation. Underground resources have also been identified down to 425 metres vertical depth, with selective longhole stoping and bulk stoping considered viable mining methods pending further geotechnical assessment.
Encouraging Metallurgical Results
Initial metallurgical testwork on high-grade samples from the Central Target has demonstrated excellent gold recoveries averaging 93.3%, with nearly half recovered by simple gravity separation. Conventional Carbon-in-Leach processing achieved strong recoveries on the remaining gold, indicating that standard processing methods are likely to be effective. Further metallurgical studies are planned to refine processing options as the project advances.
Looking Ahead
Pacgold’s Managing Director Matthew Boyes highlighted the significance of the maiden resource, describing it as a "major milestone" that validates the company’s exploration strategy. With a busy year ahead, including extensive drilling, geophysical surveys, and scoping studies, Pacgold is positioning Alice River as a compelling investment opportunity in a prolific gold province known for multi-million-ounce deposits.
While the resource remains classified as mineral resources rather than reserves, and economic viability has yet to be fully demonstrated, the combination of a substantial resource base, ongoing exploration success, and positive metallurgical results sets a promising stage for the next phases of project development.
Bottom Line?
Pacgold’s maiden resource at Alice River lays a robust foundation, but the path to economic extraction hinges on upcoming drilling results and feasibility studies.
Questions in the middle?
- How quickly can Pacgold upgrade inferred resources to indicated or measured categories with ongoing drilling?
- What are the timelines and outcomes expected from planned scoping and feasibility studies?
- How will environmental and permitting considerations impact project development and timelines?