Waratah expands Spur gold system with strong Consols and Ironclad results

Consols produces Waratah’s strongest intercept

Waratah Minerals Limited (ASX:WTM) is building scale at its Spur Gold Project in New South Wales, with drilling at Consols producing the company’s strongest reported result to date. Hole SPD075 returned 46 metres at 7.27g/t gold from 541 metres, including 10 metres at 28.93g/t and a single 1.3-metre sample grading 206g/t.

The result extended mineralisation 70 metres north and 150 metres east from existing drilling, while identifying three high-grade footwall domains beneath the Cothi Fault. Consols can now be traced across approximately 400 metres of east-west strike and 400 metres vertically. The company’s September’s best Consols intercept was previously reported as an early exploration result, and this quarterly report places it within a broader pattern of extension drilling.

Other Consols results added width and continuity rather than relying on one spectacular hole. SPD048 returned 144 metres at 1.49g/t from 482 metres, including 81 metres at 2.42g/t, while SPD074 extended the system eastward and down plunge with 12.7 metres at 1.35g/t from 44 metres. These are exploration results, not a mineral resource estimate; the company states that insufficient work has yet been completed to define a Mineral Resource.

Spur district grows across several targets

Drilling at the Spur Zone continued to outline a broad, open mineralised envelope along the Tywi Fault. The drilled footprint now extends to about 550 metres by 800 metres, with reported continuity over 300 metres of strike and 350 metres down dip. Near-surface results included 55.9 metres at 2.63g/t from 3.1 metres in SPD058 and 60.6 metres at 0.53g/t from 26 metres in SPD086.

At Gum Flat, nine sonic holes identified both eluvial gold in weathered basement and alluvial mineralisation in stacked paleochannels. The company says the basement results could extend the Spur Gold Zone approximately 150 metres west undercover, following the Gum Flat sonic drilling that identified broad shallow gold and a new exploration target.

Reverse-circulation drilling at Alpine and Gazzards added shallow high-grade zones to the regional picture, including 20 metres at 1.82g/t from 53 metres at Alpine and 8 metres at 3.54g/t from 120 metres at Gazzards. Waratah describes these prospects, together with Spur and Consols, as forming a 6-kilometre mineralised corridor, a thesis previously supported by Alpine and Gazzards drilling.

Ironclad acquisition adds ground and exploration depth

Waratah completed its acquisition of the Ironclad Mining Lease during the quarter, taking its interest in GL5828 from zero to 100%. The lease sits 1.4 kilometres along strike from the Spur and Consols discoveries and covers the largest historical mine in the Cargo Gold Field, where historical records cited in the report indicate production of 172 kilograms of gold and 10.7 tonnes of copper between 1875 and 1890.

Initial drilling at Ironclad extended mineralisation beyond the historical mine footprint. Hole IDD001 returned 30 metres at 0.47g/t from 84 metres, including 5 metres at 1.79g/t, and intersected additional mineralised intervals at depth, including 37 metres at 0.92g/t from 605 metres. Follow-up drilling at Ironclad and Goldenclad is planned as the company tests whether the mineralised structures continue towards Consols.

Metallurgy is encouraging but still preliminary

Early metallurgical work at Consols returned more than 89% gold recovery across six 10-kilogram composite samples using combined gravity and cyanide leaching. Gravity recovery contributed between 4% and 24%, with cyanidation providing a further 68% to 86%. The results suggest a conventional processing pathway, but further work on bulk master composites and variability samples is underway before any flowsheet conclusions can be treated as settled.

Waratah spent A$11.39 million on exploration and evaluation during the quarter and reported net operating cash outflows of A$12.03 million. It held A$44.46 million in cash at quarter end, equivalent to the stated 3.7 quarters of funding based on the Appendix 5B calculation. That provides room for continued drilling, although the pace of exploration remains the practical determinant of how long the balance lasts.

December quarter drilling sets the next test

The next phase is focused on converting a growing collection of intercepts into a clearer geological and economic picture. Waratah expects diamond drilling at Alpine and Gazzards in the December 2026 quarter, alongside follow-up work at Ironclad and further resource definition drilling at Spur and Consols. The key question is whether the company can sustain the observed continuity and grades across enough of the six-kilometre corridor to support a future resource, rather than simply adding more isolated high-grade intersections.