Astral uncovers a much larger gold inventory at Spargoville

Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) has more than doubled the reported gold resource at its Spargoville project in Western Australia, lifting contained metal by 102% to 281,000 ounces after a reinterpretation and re-estimation of several key deposits.

The updated estimate covers 8.5 million tonnes at 1.0g/t gold, up from 3.0Mt at 1.4g/t for 139,000 ounces in the May 2025 estimate. The higher tonnage comes with a lower average grade, but the resource now contains substantially more reported gold. Indicated resources rose 130% to 5.1Mt at 1.1g/t for 186,000 ounces, while the balance remains Inferred.

Spiders drives the Spargoville resource increase

Spiders is the centrepiece, with 5.5Mt at 1.0g/t for 177,000 ounces. It combines the Redback, Huntsman, Trapdoor, Golden Orb and S5 deposits. Eagles Nest contributes 30,000 ounces, 8500N contributes 26,000 ounces and 5B adds 7,000 ounces. Wattle Dam Stockwork, Larkinville and Hilditch were not re-estimated and remain unchanged.

The revised estimate was prepared by independent consultant Cube Consulting using a 0.40g/t gold cut-off and pit shells based on a gold price of A$4,500 an ounce. The optimisation also used mining and processing assumptions intended to align with Astral’s upcoming Mandilla Definitive Feasibility Study, including an assumed 96% processing recovery and processing plus general and administrative costs of $30 per tonne.

Group resource reaches 2.21 million ounces

With Spargoville added to the existing Feysville and Mandilla estimates, Astral reports a consolidated mineral resource of 67.0Mt at roughly 1.0g/t for 2.21 million ounces. That is higher than the 2.07Moz group figure discussed in the September group resource update, which also described Mandilla’s 1.74Moz resource and a target for its DFS in the March 2027 quarter.

The group figure includes 1.74Moz at Mandilla and 196,000 ounces at Feysville. Astral’s separate ore reserve table remains unchanged at 1.082Moz, comprising Probable reserves from Mandilla and Feysville. That distinction matters: a larger mineral resource can expand the geological inventory, but it does not by itself establish mineable reserves, project economics or a production schedule.

Drilling planned across open mineralisation

Astral says the update was partly designed to guide renewed exploration at Spargoville. Only about 16,000 metres of new reverse-circulation drilling had been completed since the company acquired the project from Maximus Resources, and further RC and diamond drilling is planned.

Several targets remain open, including Spiders and Eagles Nest at depth or along strike. The estimate also carries the usual early-stage limitations: there is no Measured Resource, density data is limited, metallurgical test work is preliminary across parts of the project, and no external audit of the 2026 estimate was conducted. Heritage survey work is still under way.