Ora Banda Mining has begun underground development at Waihi in Western Australia, where drilling has returned intersections of up to 1.6 metres at 65.9 g/t gold. The mine is scheduled to deliver first underground ore in mid-2027, ahead of the company’s planned 3.0 Mtpa Davyhurst processing plant.
- Underground mining begins at Waihi, 3km west of the Davyhurst plant
- Midnight drilling returns 11.5m at 26.0 g/t and 1.6m at 65.9 g/t gold
- Golden Pole holds an Ore Reserve grade of 5.0 g/t
- First Waihi underground ore is scheduled for mid-CY2027
- Only three of seven planned Midnight diamond holes are complete
Waihi Decline Moves Into Underground Development
Ora Banda Mining Limited (ASX:OBM) has started underground mining at Waihi, opening a new production pathway at the gold project three kilometres west of its Davyhurst processing plant. The company says the decline portal has been established through the existing Waihi open pit, with development now focused on reaching the Golden Pole lode and creating underground drill platforms.
The timing matters because Waihi is scheduled to contribute high-grade ore from mid-calendar 2027, before Ora Banda’s planned 3.0 million-tonne-per-annum processing plant at Davyhurst is commissioned in early 2028. The company says Golden Pole ore will initially be preferentially treated through the existing Davyhurst Mill as it reduces third-party processing and begins stockpiling ore ahead of the new plant’s arrival.
Midnight Drilling Produces Exceptional Intersections
The exploration story is being led by Midnight, a prospect about 500 metres south of the Waihi pit crest and formerly known as Dexy. Results reported from the first three holes of a planned seven-hole, 2,850-metre diamond program include 11.5 metres at 26.0 g/t gold, including 8.9 metres at 32.4 g/t, and a separate 1.6-metre interval at 65.9 g/t, including one metre at 104.0 g/t.
Those numbers are striking, but they remain exploration results rather than a defined resource or reserve. Three holes covering 1,479 metres have been completed, with an expanded follow-up program still being designed. The reported intervals are down-hole lengths; the announcement does not state true widths. The company says the drilling has identified the same stratigraphic sequence as Waihi, multiple parallel mineralised lodes and a major north-south shear interpreted as a conduit for gold-bearing fluids.
Golden Pole Adds Near-Term Grade
Shallow drilling aimed at southern extensions of Golden Pole also returned encouraging results, including 4.5 metres at 8.4 g/t gold, 2.0 metres at 6.9 g/t and 2.0 metres at 14.5 g/t. The company describes Waihi as a large, under-drilled system containing several high-grade shoots that plunge north, with Golden Pole carrying an Ore Reserve grade of 5.0 g/t.
Underground access is intended to make the next stage of exploration faster and more targeted. Ora Banda plans to use drill drives to test strike and depth extensions at both Golden Pole and Midnight, while continuing work on the main Waihi line of lode. That approach could improve geological definition, although the filing does not yet quantify any additional tonnes, ounces or production attributable to Midnight.
Production Schedule Depends on Execution
Waihi is the third underground mine Ora Banda has started in three years and one of four mines included in its DRIVE to 300 strategy, which aspires to 300,000 ounces of annual production in FY2029. The company explicitly cautions that DRIVE to 300 is an aspirational goal, not a production forecast, and says it does not yet have reasonable grounds to believe the aspiration can be achieved.
The immediate test is therefore narrower and more concrete: whether underground development advances from the newly established portal to first ore in mid-2027, while the Davyhurst plant progresses towards commissioning in early 2028. Further Midnight drilling, resource conversion and evidence of continuity around the headline grades will determine whether the prospect becomes a meaningful part of that production pathway or remains an attractive but early-stage exploration target.
Bottom Line?
The portal is now in place, but Waihi’s investment case still turns on development progress, the mid-2027 first-ore schedule and whether Midnight’s exceptional grades hold across wider drilling.
Questions in the middle?
- Can Ora Banda deliver first Waihi underground ore in mid-2027 as scheduled?
- Will follow-up drilling establish sufficient continuity and true widths at Midnight to support resource conversion?
- How much of the future production profile will Waihi contribute once the 3.0 Mtpa Davyhurst plant is commissioned?