Norwest Minerals has strengthened the technical case for its Bulgera heap-leach project with a revised 191,000-ounce resource and 86% bottle-roll recoveries. But the ASX-listed explorer ended FY2026 with $394,541 in cash, and its auditor highlighted material uncertainty over its ability to continue as a going concern.
- 191,000-ounce Bulgera Mineral Resource Estimate
- 76% classified as Indicated
- 86% bottle-roll gold recovery from oxide and transition material
- $1.26 million FY2026 net loss
- $1.89 million entitlement offer completed after year-end
Bulgera resource reaches 191,000 ounces
Norwest Minerals Limited (ASX:NWM) has given its flagship Bulgera Gold Project a more defined technical foundation, reporting a revised Mineral Resource Estimate of 8.7 million tonnes at 0.68 grams per tonne gold for 191,000 ounces. The estimate is constrained within an optimised open-pit shell based on a gold price assumption of A$5,000 an ounce, with 76% of the resource classified as Indicated.
That classification provides greater geological confidence than an Inferred resource, but it is not an Ore Reserve. Norwest has declared no production target, and the company states that the estimate still requires technical and economic evaluation, including the effect of modifying factors such as mining dilution, ore loss, permitting and funding.
Metallurgy moves from bottle rolls to columns
The most encouraging operational data comes from the oxide and transition material earmarked for heap leaching. Bottle-roll testing on coarse-crushed material returned 86% gold recovery, with 75% to 80% of recovery achieved within the first 72 hours. Reported reagent consumption was low, averaging 0.38 kilograms per tonne of cyanide and 1.3 kilograms per tonne of lime.
Norwest has progressed to formal 70-day column leach testing, designed to examine recovery, leach kinetics, percolation and reagent requirements under conditions intended to better simulate a full-scale heap. The annual report does not disclose the column test outcome. The study is being led by Orelogy Mining Consultants, with Kappes, Cassiday & Associates Australia advising on heap-leach metallurgy and ALS Laboratories conducting the testwork.
The scoping work also includes borefield development, process optimisation, environmental approvals and site permitting. MBS Environmental has prepared an approvals strategy, while Norwest says the conceptual heap-leach layout can fit within the historically disturbed Bulgera mining footprint. Those statements describe the current study pathway, rather than confirming that approvals or construction are secured.
Cash position triggers going-concern warning
The technical progress sits alongside a much less comfortable balance-sheet position. Norwest reported a FY2026 net loss of A$1.26 million, operating and investing cash outflows of A$3.84 million, and just A$394,541 in cash at 30 June 2026. Exploration and evaluation assets rose to A$26.05 million, but the company remains pre-revenue.
BDO issued an unmodified audit opinion but drew attention to a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on Norwest’s ability to continue as a going concern. The directors said continued operations depend on further funding. After year-end, Norwest completed a one-for-four entitlement offer at A$0.007 a share, raising approximately A$1.89 million before costs through about 270.4 million new shares.
Norwest also has an At-The-Market Subscription Agreement providing up to A$3 million of standby equity capital over three years, secured by 51.4 million shares issued for nil cash consideration. Alongside the entitlement offer and the company’s substantial pool of listed and unlisted options, the funding plan leaves future capital structure and cash runway as material variables while the Bulgera study moves towards completion.
Bottom Line?
Bulgera now has a stronger resource and promising early metallurgy, but the investment case still turns on column results, the scoping study, approvals and whether funding can carry Norwest to an Ore Reserve or development decision.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the 70-day column tests confirm the 86% bottle-roll recovery under more representative heap conditions?
- Can Norwest complete the Bulgera scoping study and environmental approvals before its post-raise funding runway becomes restrictive?
- How much dilution could arise from the entitlement offer, ATM facility and outstanding options if further capital is required?