PC Gold’s Spring Hill resource reaches 1.51Moz as development funding expands

Spring Hill Resource Reaches 1.513Moz

PC Gold Ltd (ASX:PC2) finished FY2026 with a considerably bigger gold story than the one it took to the ASX. An interim Mineral Resource Estimate released after year end lifted Spring Hill’s contained gold to approximately 1.513 million ounces, up 84% from the 821,000-ounce estimate reported at 30 June, while the Indicated component rose 136% to about 1.004 million ounces.

The upgrade followed roughly 32,240 metres of drilling across the Macau Extension, Link Zone, Main Lode South and Footwall Lode. PC Gold said the work extended mineralisation and improved geological understanding, with the system remaining open along strike and at depth. The resource growth had already been previewed through drilling that identified the Link Zone between the Macau and Hong Kong lodes, but the scale of the post-year-end update is the more consequential number for the development case.

Capital Raised for a Larger Work Programme

The balance sheet changed sharply during the year as PC Gold completed its October 2025 IPO and a further A$24 million institutional placement in February. At 30 June, the company held approximately A$21.7 million in cash and term deposits, while net assets had increased to A$51.43 million from A$9.91 million a year earlier.

That funding base was expanded again on 3 September, when PC Gold completed a A$75 million placement at A$1.05 a share. The company said the proceeds would support a 125,000-metre drilling programme, feasibility studies, underground infrastructure refurbishment, camp works and a proposed Photon Assay laboratory. The placement is expected to produce a pro forma cash position of approximately A$96.7 million, although it also adds about 71.4 million shares to the capital structure.

Feasibility Work Moves Ahead of Production

Spring Hill remains an exploration and development project rather than an operating mine. PC Gold is evaluating a standalone 3Mtpa carbon-in-leach plant supplied by a combination of open-pit and potential selective underground ore, with work spanning mine design, geotechnical studies, metallurgy, infrastructure, power, water, tailings and environmental investigations.

Metallurgical testing reported in August produced gold extraction of 90.2% to 99.4% across six composite samples. Weathered mineralisation reached 99.4% extraction at a P80 grind size of 150 microns, while gravity recovery ranged from 33.1% to 48.9%. The results support continued assessment of a conventional gravity and carbon-in-leach flowsheet, but the company also cautioned that higher measured specific-gravity results could affect tonnage in a future resource update.

Losses Rise as Exploration Scales Up

The financial statements show the cost of moving quickly. PC Gold’s FY2026 net loss widened to A$3.23 million from A$936,284, while operating cash outflow increased to A$1.66 million. Exploration and evaluation expenditure capitalised during the year reached A$13.65 million, taking the exploration asset balance to A$31.05 million.

The loss also included A$1.55 million in share-based payment expense, alongside A$1.73 million of administrative and corporate expenses including employee benefits. The auditor identified the carrying value of exploration and evaluation assets as a key audit matter, reflecting the judgement involved while the project has no Ore Reserve and has not yet demonstrated commercial production.

Next Test Is Resource Conversion

PC Gold’s FY2027 priorities include completing the Spring Hill Pre-Feasibility Study and maiden Ore Reserve, continuing resource-definition drilling, advancing a Definitive Feasibility Study and permitting, and rehabilitating underground infrastructure. The company has also acquired a 64-room accommodation camp near Pine Creek for A$770,000 plus GST, providing a regional base for employees and contractors.

The central tension is now clear: the resource has expanded rapidly, but the project still has to convert geological scale into mineable reserves, an economic study and approvals. Density work may alter future tonnage, four rigs remained active after year end, and the enlarged drilling programme will generate more data before Spring Hill’s development economics are known.