Blackjack momentum builds as NMR posts record 1,300oz October gold outturn

October production reaches a new Blackjack high

Native Mineral Resources Holdings Limited (ASX:NMR) has put a fresh record on the board at its Blackjack gold operation near Charters Towers, with October refined gold outturn reaching 1,300.2oz. The result was 41% above September’s 923.8oz and 20% higher than the previous record of 1,080.5oz set in August.

The result was confirmed after Perth Mint returned 519.4oz of refined gold from the BJM111-113 smelt, the strongest confirmed weekly refined gold outturn of FY27. That smelt also produced 339.1oz of refined silver, with the gold result 48% above the 350.9oz returned from the previous week. It closes the loop on the 27 October record smelt, which had pointed to an October outturn of between 1,300oz and 1,400oz based on internal assays.

Higher grades and lower downtime drive plant performance

Blackjack’s October performance was not simply a function of more material moving through the plant. Wet tonnes crushed rose 15.5% to 29,162 tonnes, while dry tonnes milled increased 16.9% to 28,272 tonnes. Mill utilisation climbed to a record 95.5% as operational downtime fell from 93 hours to 20.5 hours, although mill availability remained broadly steady above 98%.

Grade provided the other major lift. Assay head grade rose to 1.71g/t gold from 1.04g/t in September, while reconciled head grade reached 1.94g/t, the highest monthly level recorded at Blackjack. Reconciled plant recovery also improved to 96.3% from 94.4%, helping reconciled gold recovered rise to 1,696.6oz. These are plant and reconciliation measures for the month, rather than a guarantee that the same grade or recovery will persist.

November starts with large smelt, but refinery result is still to come

The first November smelt produced 895.9oz, or 27.87kg, of gross doré from four bars. Three came through the elution circuit and one through gravity recovery. It is the second-largest weekly smelt of FY27 by gross doré weight, behind the 934.1oz smelt on 27 October, and almost three times the 296.6oz produced in Blackjack’s first October smelt.

That figure is not yet refined gold production. Perth Mint still has to determine the official refinery weight, assays and refined gold and silver outturn for BJM114-117, with results expected next week. Including the October confirmation but excluding the November bars, Blackjack has produced 7,192.7oz of refined gold and 7,649.8oz of refined silver since production began in July 2025. More than 60% of the refined gold total has been recorded since the start of June 2026.

North Pit and Far Fanning add the next operational tests

Mining is continuing at the Podosky and Blackjack Mid Pit, while Stage 1 drilling at the Blackjack North Pit is scheduled to finish on 22 November. The company says those results will feed into geological modelling, pit optimisation and pit design, with a first North Pit blast expected in December.

At Far Fanning, site buildings are scheduled to mobilise in November ahead of dewatering and mining targeted for the first quarter of 2027. For now, the operating data show a marked October improvement and a powerful opening smelt for November. The more important test will be whether higher grades, strong utilisation and refinery-confirmed outturn can be sustained as mining moves towards the next pits.