Legacy Minerals expands Mt Carrington as a larger mine takes shape
Legacy Minerals enters FY2027 with a larger Mt Carrington resource, a positive preliminary development study and fresh drilling underway, but the proposed mine still requires substantial funding. The ASX-listed explorer reported a A$1.85 million FY2026 loss and held A$6.07 million in cash at year-end.
- Mt Carrington resource increased post-year-end to 47.9Mt at 1.0g/t AuEq for 1.6Moz AuEq
- May scoping study outlined a 12-year, 1Mtpa operation with a A$514 million pre-tax NPV7 spot case
- Optimised scoping study is assessing higher throughput and updated cost and pricing assumptions
- FY2026 cash balance was A$6.07 million after A$8.74 million of capital raised before costs
- Emu assays and Phase 2 Mascotte drilling remain key near-term exploration catalysts
Mt Carrington moves from exploration story towards development test
Legacy Minerals Holdings Limited (ASX:LGM) has given shareholders a larger resource and a more ambitious development question to consider: whether Mt Carrington can become more than a promising collection of New South Wales deposits. The company’s post-year-end resource update lifted the project to 47.9 million tonnes at 1.0g/t gold equivalent for 1.6 million ounces of gold equivalent, up from 34.4Mt and 1.2Moz AuEq at 30 June 2026.
The revised estimate contains 714koz of gold, 35Moz of silver, 40kt of copper, 37kt of lead and 164kt of zinc. Indicated resources rose 69% to 19.3Mt, although 60% of the updated resource remains classified as Inferred. That distinction matters: the resource growth improves the project’s scale, but it does not by itself establish an Ore Reserve or guarantee that the proposed mine can be built.
Preliminary study points to strong economics, with wide margins for error
The May 2026 Ausenco-led scoping study outlined a 1Mtpa, 12-year open-pit operation using a cyanide-free flotation circuit to produce a saleable precious-metal concentrate. On the study’s spot-price case, the project generated a pre-tax NPV7 of A$514 million and a 38% internal rate of return; the base case produced a pre-tax NPV7 of A$382 million and a 31% IRR. The study also estimated a peak funding requirement of about A$220.5 million.
Those figures are attractive on paper, but they come from a preliminary assessment with an accuracy range of negative 30% to positive 45%. The production target includes Inferred Resources, while the study assumed no revenue contribution from copper, lead or zinc. Its proposed funding requirement is also more than 36 times the company’s A$6.07 million year-end cash balance. The next study therefore matters less as a promotional milestone than as a test of whether scale economies, recoveries, payabilities and capital costs hold together after the resource expansion.
Drilling adds optionality beyond the current resource
Legacy Minerals is pursuing both development and discovery at Mt Carrington. Phase 1 drilling at Mascotte identified a gold-silver system along a 1.3km trend outside the existing resource, including intersections of 40m at 1.0g/t gold and 57m at 0.3g/t gold. At Battery, three of four holes intersected wide zones of anomalous copper mineralisation, including 52m at 0.15% copper within 95m at 0.13% copper.
The eight-hole Emu copper-gold program was completed in July, with assays pending when the annual report was prepared. The rig then moved to Mascotte for an initial 10-hole, approximately 2,000m Phase 2 program. These results could influence both the resource-conversion case and the scope of the optimised study, but the company has not yet reported assays from the latest programs.
Capital remains the practical constraint
Legacy Minerals raised A$8.74 million before capital-raising costs during FY2026, including A$6.53 million from the exercise or underwriting of listed options. It ended the year with a net loss of A$1.85 million, operating cash outflow of A$1.52 million and A$5.38 million spent on exploration and evaluation. Capitalised exploration and evaluation assets rose to A$12.47 million.
The portfolio offers some funding relief through partnerships. Aurelia Metals’ Peak Gold Mines agreed to spend A$500,000 to earn 51% of the Cobar tenements, with a path to 90%, while Earth AI holds 51% of Fontenoy after completing its first earn-in stage. Rio Tinto’s Thomson option did not proceed, leaving Legacy Minerals with 100% ownership and the data generated during the option period. The company also received a A$408,434 research and development tax refund and completed the sale of Glenlogan after year-end.
December study will sharpen the development question
Ausenco and WSP began an optimised scoping study in late August incorporating the larger resource. It is assessing throughput above 1Mtpa, updated metal prices and concentrate payabilities, alongside revised processing, ramp-up, capital and operating-cost assumptions. Results are expected in the December 2026 quarter.
That release should show whether the larger resource improves project value without proportionally increasing capital intensity. Until then, Mt Carrington remains a promising but preliminary development opportunity, while Legacy Minerals remains dependent on exploration success, partners and access to equity or debt markets to bridge the gap between a study-stage mine and construction.
Bottom Line?
The enlarged Mt Carrington resource improves the development proposition, but the December study and a credible plan for roughly A$220.5 million of funding will determine how much of that value is investable.
Questions in the middle?
- Can the optimised study support higher throughput without pushing capital and operating costs materially higher?
- How much of the expanded resource can be converted from Inferred to Indicated or ultimately into Ore Reserves?
- Will Emu and Phase 2 Mascotte drilling add mineable ounces and tonnes, or mainly extend the exploration pipeline?
