Miramar’s Gidji gold resource sets up a bigger drilling test

Gidji resource gives Miramar a quantified gold foothold

Miramar Resources Limited (ASX:M2R) has put a number around the shallow gold system at its Gidji joint venture near Kalgoorlie, reporting 1.043 million tonnes at 1.20 grams per tonne gold for 39,764 ounces. The maiden resource is classified entirely as Inferred and is reported on a 100% basis, while Miramar holds an 80% interest in the project.

The estimate draws on drilling across several targets, including Highway, Powerline, Pipeline, Marylebone, Blackfriars, Hole 96 and 8-Mile. The mineralisation occurs in flat-lying blankets roughly 40 to 50 metres below surface, with the company saying the current estimate is constrained by a lack of deeper drilling.

The milestone follows the maiden Gidji resource reported earlier in the year. Miramar says the resource provides an indication of the scale and grade of the shallow mineralisation, while its longer-term exploration thesis is that the zones could sit above larger bedrock deposits.

New funding targets infill and deeper drilling

Miramar received firm commitments for a $1.25 million placement during September, comprising $1 million from new and existing investors and a further $250,000 commitment from directors subject to shareholder approval. The funds are intended for drilling campaigns and development activities at Gidji.

The planned programme includes infill and extensional drilling at targets such as Highway, Blackfriars and Lake, alongside bedrock drilling and an application for a mining lease. The company also says it is discussing potential development partners, although the filing does not identify any counterparties or set out a development timetable.

The funding was announced through the $1.25 million Gidji placement, which was framed as support for resource growth and deeper target testing. Miramar reported $1.161 million in cash at 30 September, alongside listed investments valued at about $140,616. Its Appendix 5B indicated approximately 4.05 quarters of funding based on the reported current outgoings.

Chain Pool targets move towards bedrock drilling

Gidji was not the only exploration story in the quarter. At Chain Pool in the Gascoyne region, assay results from 116 reconnaissance auger holes and gravity data were used to upgrade proposed bedrock targets around the historic Joy Helen copper-lead-zinc-silver occurrence.

Among the reported results, hole CPA058 returned three metres at 1,065 parts per million copper, 8,429 parts per million lead and 1.8 parts per million silver from surface. The results remain shallow auger indications rather than a resource or a deeper intercept, and Miramar plans to test the targets with reverse-circulation or diamond drilling. A second target area about four kilometres north-west of Joy Helen is also being investigated.

The work builds on the Chain Pool auger programme, which previously identified copper-lead anomalies and alteration halos. Miramar says a hard, silicified dolomite zone directly above a residual gravity anomaly is a key target, but shallow auger drilling could not penetrate it.

Portfolio remains exploration-led

Miramar spent $211,000 on exploration and evaluation during the quarter and reported no mining production or development expenditure. It also received a $238,456 research and development tax incentive refund in early July and expects to issue $438,703 in JMEI credits to eligible shareholders for the year ended 30 June 2025.

The company made no field progress at Glandore, Bangemall or Whaleshark during the quarter, while it continued advancing the Glandore mining lease application and Carnarvon Sands tenement applications. The immediate test for the strategy is therefore fairly clear: whether funded drilling can convert Gidji’s Inferred ounces into a stronger resource base and establish a credible bedrock opportunity, while Chain Pool’s surface anomalies survive the transition to deeper drilling.