Saturn Metals Elevates Apollo Hill Gold Resource to 2.24Moz with 82% High-Confidence
Saturn Metals has announced a substantial 10% increase in the Apollo Hill Gold Project resource, now totaling 2.24 million ounces with a strong majority classified as Measured and Indicated. This upgrade underpins upcoming feasibility studies and highlights ongoing exploration potential in Western Australia.
- Apollo Hill Mineral Resource increased to 2.24 million ounces gold
- 82% of resource classified as Measured and Indicated, enhancing confidence
- 59% growth in higher confidence resource categories since February 2025
- Resource upgrade based on extensive 55,757m drilling and refined modelling
- Supports Pre-Feasibility Study and inaugural Ore Reserve targeted for late 2025
Apollo Hill Resource Expansion
Saturn Metals Limited has delivered its seventh consecutive resource upgrade at the Apollo Hill Gold Project, located near Leonora in Western Australia. The latest Mineral Resource estimate now stands at 137.1 million tonnes grading 0.51 grams per tonne gold, equating to 2.24 million ounces. This represents a 10% increase, or an additional 200,000 ounces, compared to the February 2025 estimate.
Crucially, 82% of this resource is classified within the higher confidence Measured and Indicated categories, a significant 59% increase in these classifications since the previous update. This shift reflects improved geological understanding and infill drilling, which enhances the project's economic viability and underpins forthcoming development studies.
Drilling and Modelling Advances
The resource upgrade is supported by an extensive drilling campaign comprising 300 reverse circulation holes and 9 diamond drill tails, totaling over 55,700 meters. This drilling has refined the geological model, improved bulk density data, and allowed for a smaller selective mining unit in the estimation process, enabling more precise resource delineation.
The updated resource is reported within a larger constraining pit shell optimized for a gold price of AUD 3,550 per ounce, reflecting a bulk mining and heap leach processing scenario. Notably, this gold price is well below the current market spot price, suggesting a robust resource base with reasonable prospects for economic extraction.
Pathway to Production
Saturn Metals is actively progressing the Apollo Hill project through a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) and aims to release its inaugural Ore Reserve later in 2025. The high proportion of Measured and Indicated resources near surface provides a strong foundation for the PFS mining inventory and production forecast.
Drilling continues to focus on resource growth, infill, and geotechnical and metallurgical studies, with a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and Ore Reserve update planned for 2026. The company’s strategy also includes exploration across its extensive 1,000 square kilometer tenement package, targeting new discoveries to sustain long-life mining operations.
Geological and Metallurgical Context
The Apollo Hill deposit is hosted within a 5-kilometer-long shear zone characterized by quartz veinlets and carbonate-pyrite alteration. The mineralization is amenable to conventional heap leach processing, with test work indicating gold recoveries up to 75%. The deposit's geological complexity is well understood, supported by detailed structural and lithological modelling.
Saturn Metals’ Managing Director Ian Bamborough highlighted the significance of the resource upgrade, emphasizing the potential for economies of scale and the efficiencies bulk mining and heap leach processing can deliver. He also noted the ongoing drilling program’s role in enhancing geological knowledge and resource confidence.
Bottom Line?
With a strengthened resource base and high-confidence classifications, Saturn Metals is poised to advance Apollo Hill towards production, but future feasibility outcomes and exploration results will be critical to watch.
Questions in the middle?
- How will the upcoming Pre-Feasibility and Definitive Feasibility Studies impact project timelines and capital requirements?
- What are the key risks related to metallurgical recovery variability and mining dilution assumptions?
- To what extent can further exploration expand the resource beyond the current 2.24 million ounces?
