Lefroy brings Burns into focus as Mt Martin study expands

Burns added to Mt Martin study scope

Lefroy Exploration Limited (ASX:LEX) is widening the question it wants its Mt Martin Scoping Study to answer. The company is assessing whether the high-grade portion of the nearby Burns gold deposit can be integrated into a regional development model, potentially allowing the two assets to be considered around shared processing and infrastructure.

The change comes with a timetable cost: delivery of the preliminary technical and economic assessment is now scheduled for early in the December quarter 2026, later than the previous timeline. Measured Group is coordinating the work, which is examining open-pit mining configurations, infrastructure requirements, environmental footprints and processing options. No updated production profile, capital cost, operating cost or economic outcome has been provided.

Mt Martin growth remains part of the equation

Mt Martin currently carries a Mineral Resource Estimate of 9.1 million tonnes at 1.6 grams per tonne gold for 460,000 ounces, including 200,500 ounces in the Indicated category and 259,500 ounces Inferred. Lefroy said a 37-hole, 5,046-metre reverse-circulation programme validated down-plunge continuity and more than one kilometre of open strike on the East Shear zone.

Two reported intersections illustrate the grade potential being considered alongside the study: 8 metres at 3.98 grams per tonne gold from 38 metres, including 4 metres at 7.16 grams per tonne, and 6 metres at 5.48 grams per tonne from 69 metres, including 2 metres at 12.8 grams per tonne. Those results sit outside the question of whether the eventual project can be economically developed, but they help explain why resource growth is being assessed in parallel with the modelling.

Burns review targets high-grade resource

Lefroy is also reviewing Burns' high-grade resource domains with Measured Group. The existing high-grade estimate, reported at a 0.5 grams per tonne gold cut-off, stands at 4.22 million tonnes at 1.18 grams per tonne for 159,285 ounces, inclusive of the broader Burns Central resource. The review is expected to be completed in the first half of the December quarter, alongside the expanded study work.

The company said recent metallurgical drilling produced strong near-surface assays and excellent gold recoveries, prompting a reassessment of the high-grade zone's standalone economic potential. That remains an evaluation rather than a declared development outcome. Lefroy says its recent $3.6 million placement is funding the study and related technical work.

Lucky Strike licence clears one regulatory hurdle

At Lucky Strike, miscellaneous licence L25/71 is now fully granted after Lefroy executed a Heritage Agreement with Kakarra Part A traditional owners. The licence is intended to secure a second dewatering corridor, while a heritage survey for that corridor is scheduled for mid-October 2026.

The operational target is to recommence dewatering and mining in early 2027 under the company's 50:50 profit-sharing arrangement with BML Ventures. That timing remains conditional: amendments to the water discharge licence and the Mining Development Compliance Plan are still progressing, and ground-disturbing work for the additional corridor awaits the relevant approvals.