Ballard Mining Uncovers New Gold Zone at Neptune Prospect

A New Chapter in Mt Ida Exploration

Ballard Mining (ASX, BM1) has delivered an encouraging update from its Mt Ida Gold Project in Western Australia, announcing a new gold discovery at the Neptune Prospect. Located just 7 kilometres east of the established Baldock Gold Deposit, Neptune has yielded initial drilling results that suggest a mineralisation style and grade comparable to Baldock’s high-grade resources.

The discovery is particularly notable as it represents the first of 18 regional prospects identified during Ballard’s recent IPO, underscoring the underexplored potential of the Ballard Fault Zone. Drilling at Neptune has intersected gold mineralisation over a 500-metre strike length, with assays including standout intervals such as 23 metres at 1.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 7 metres at 5.8 g/t gold. These results confirm the presence of economically significant mineralisation near surface and at depth.

Geological Significance and Mining Implications

The mineralisation at Neptune occurs within east-dipping shear zones hosted by altered anorthosite, mirroring the geological setting of the Baldock Deposit but situated on the opposite side of the Copperfield Granite intrusion. This similarity bodes well for the prospect’s potential to evolve into a deposit of comparable scale.

Importantly, the broad and shallow nature of some intercepts, such as the 23m at 1.8 g/t, suggests that low strip ratio open pit mining could be viable, providing oxide and transitional ore that would complement the primarily underground mining approach planned for Baldock. This blend could enhance operational flexibility and cost efficiency.

Strategic Outlook and Next Steps

Ballard’s Managing Director, Paul Brennan, highlighted the discovery as a strong start to the company’s regional exploration program. He emphasized that Neptune’s results open up the entire 13-kilometre Ballard Fault as a high-priority exploration corridor with the potential to host another deposit on the scale of Baldock’s 930,000-ounce resource.

The company has completed initial drilling at five other nearby prospects and anticipates further assay results in the coming weeks. Planning is underway for a follow-up Phase 2 drilling campaign at Neptune, combining reverse circulation and diamond drilling to better define the mineralisation and support resource estimation.

With a JORC-compliant resource of 1.1 million ounces across the Mt Ida Project and mining approvals secured for both open pit and underground operations at Baldock, Ballard is well positioned to advance towards production. The new discovery at Neptune adds a compelling growth dimension to the project’s development pipeline.