Leeuwin’s Marda Tailings Reveal a Potential Low-Cost Gold Opportunity
Leeuwin Metals has confirmed gold across all 10 samples from historic tailings at its Marda Central project, averaging 0.596 g/t Au in the top metre. The result points to a potentially accessible processing opportunity, but the material remains well short of a defined resource or economic study.
- Ten auger samples averaged 0.596 g/t Au
- Peak result of 0.905 g/t Au
- Approximately 12,000 m³ of tailings estimated at surface
- Tailings sit immediately beside a major road
- Further sampling and metallurgical testing required
Gold confirmed across historic Marda tailings
Leeuwin Metals Ltd (ASX:LM1) has found gold in every sample collected from a historic tailings deposit at its Marda Central project in Western Australia, giving the explorer a potentially low-cost target that is already sitting at surface.
Ten handheld auger holes returned grades ranging from 0.48 g/t to 0.905 g/t Au, with an average of 0.596 g/t Au. Each hole tested only a single one-metre interval from surface, meaning the results confirm gold in the upper layer but do not yet establish the grade or continuity through the full tailings pile.
Surface volume offers a processing target
A UAV Lidar scan has estimated approximately 12,000 cubic metres of material across the Butcher Bird tailings, which cover roughly 120 metres by 60 metres and reach up to about two metres in height. The deposit sits immediately beside a major road, a location Leeuwin says could support a relatively straightforward assessment of processing options.
Executive Chairman Christopher Piggott described the results as “very encouraging” and said the company sees the tailings as a potential source of “quick, low-cost cashflow” while it advances the broader Marda Gold Project (ASX:LM1). That remains a company ambition rather than an established outcome: no recovery rate, processing flowsheet, operating cost, revenue estimate or economic assessment has been reported.
Testing remains at an early stage
The tailings are historic processing residue, so the reported gold represents material not recovered during earlier treatment of ore. Leeuwin has not estimated a tonnage, Exploration Target or Mineral Resource for the deposit, and the 12,000 cubic metre figure is a survey estimate rather than a defined mining inventory. Historic residue can also vary in grade and recoverability, issues that the current 10-hole program cannot resolve.
The next phase will extend auger sampling through the tailings’ full thickness, establish a more reliable volume and grade estimate, and begin metallurgical and processing test work. The company is also targeting further drilling at Marda in the fourth quarter of 2026, alongside soil sampling at its Gascoyne project.
Marda’s existing resource provides the larger backdrop
The tailings opportunity sits within a Marda project that already hosts a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource of 378,600 ounces, comprising 11.4 million tonnes at 1.03 g/t Au. Leeuwin also reports an Exploration Target of between 142,000 and 186,000 ounces, although that target is conceptual and separate from the tailings results.
The immediate question is whether the Butcher Bird material can move from attractive surface sampling to a repeatable recovery result and a defined inventory. Until those tests are complete, the tailings are best viewed as an exploration and processing option, not yet as a cash-generating asset.
Bottom Line?
The next assays and metallurgical results will determine whether 12,000 cubic metres of gold-bearing residue is a practical processing opportunity or simply an encouraging surface anomaly.
Questions in the middle?
- Will sampling through the full two-metre thickness confirm consistent grades below the tested top metre?
- What gold recovery rate and processing method will metallurgical testing produce?
- Can Leeuwin define a compliant inventory and economic case for the tailings without diverting focus from Marda’s broader drilling program?
