Rox expands Youanmi reserve as fresh drilling awaits inclusion
Rox Resources has increased Youanmi’s Ore Reserve by 8% to 727,000 ounces after mining depletion, while the broader Mineral Resource edged up to 2.195 million ounces. The update excludes results from recent surface and underground drilling programs, leaving future revisions as a potential source of change.
- Ore Reserve rises 52,000 ounces to 727koz
- Mineral Resource increases 1% to 2.195Moz
- Reserve estimate uses A$3,200/oz gold price
- Recent Interceptor and grade-control drilling excluded
- Process plant remains under construction for 2027 commissioning
Youanmi Ore Reserve rises to 727koz
Rox Resources Limited (ASX:RXL) has added 52,000 ounces to the Youanmi Gold Mine’s Ore Reserve, lifting it 8% to 727,000 ounces as at 30 June 2026. The increase came despite reported mining depletion of 774 ounces, with the reserve now standing at 4.8 million tonnes grading 4.7 grams per tonne of gold.
The reserve is entirely classified as Probable and is derived from Indicated Mineral Resources. No Measured or Inferred material has been included. About 27,700 tonnes of surface stockpiles, grading 3.1 grams per tonne, contribute roughly 3,000 ounces to the total.
Resource growth is modest but more ounces are indicated
Youanmi’s total Mineral Resource rose to 2.195 million ounces from 2.170 million ounces in July 2025. The composition shifted in a direction that matters for mine planning: Indicated resources increased 4% in contained ounces to 1.606 million ounces, while Inferred resources fell 6% to 588,000 ounces.
The underground resource accounts for 96% of the total, with 70% of that underground inventory classified as Indicated. Surface resources grew more sharply, rising 25% in combined Indicated and Inferred ounces to 87,000 ounces, although the overall resource grade eased by about 1% to 5.5 grams per tonne.
Conservative price assumption leaves room for scrutiny
Rox says the Ore Reserve was calculated using a gold price of A$3,200 an ounce, compared with a spot price of approximately A$6,100 an ounce at the time of the announcement. That gap is material, but it does not by itself establish how the reserve would change under a higher price: the estimate also incorporates mining, processing, recovery, dilution, royalty and other feasibility-study assumptions.
The planned operation is based on conventional long-hole open stoping, with a process plant designed for an initial throughput of 900,000 tonnes a year and capacity of 1 million tonnes. Test work used in the study supports an overall metallurgical recovery of 90.8%, while the process plant, tailings storage facility and primary power station remain under construction.
Post-cutoff drilling creates the next data test
The headline resource numbers are not a complete read-through of Rox’s current drilling effort. Results from the recent Interceptor surface program and the underground grade-control program arrived after the estimation cutoff and have been left out of the 2026 figures. Rox says those results will be incorporated into future resource and reserve revisions.
Managing director and chief executive Phillip Wilding said the update reflected only part of the drilling completed during the period, alongside new geological understanding from exposures in the United North system. Rox is also investigating a possible resource update at the Commonwealth prospect and continues to describe a long-term aspiration to become a 150,000-ounce-per-year producer. That figure remains a company aspiration rather than production delivered by the current estimate.
Bottom Line?
The reserve uplift strengthens the Youanmi mine plan, but the more consequential update may come when post-cutoff drilling is translated into classified resources and, potentially, additional reserves.
Questions in the middle?
- How much of the Interceptor and underground grade-control drilling will convert into Indicated resources or Ore Reserves?
- Will future resource growth alter the mine plan, development schedule or targeted production profile?
- How will construction progress and eventual plant performance compare with the feasibility-study assumptions underpinning the 727koz reserve?
