Aureka clears key approval hurdle for Comstock gold project

Seven-Year Licence Opens Comstock Development Pathway

Aureka Limited (ASX:AKA) has cleared a significant regulatory hurdle at Comstock, securing a seven-year Prospecting Licence over a 4.5-hectare section of the old mine site near St Arnaud in Victoria. The grant covers the Walkers Zone and the southern portion of the main Comstock Shear, but it is a pathway to further work rather than approval to start mining.

“Plan view of Victoria including Aureka’s key projects with respect to the major nearby towns, cities and projects.”

“Prospecting Licence PL008915 area in relation to Crown land (1:25,000 scale). Source: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action / Resources Victoria – 4 November 2026.”

Caption and image © Aureka Limited. From “Comstock Production Licence Granted”, 5 Nov 2026.

Resources Victoria granted PL008915 on 4 November, less than four months after accepting the application. The area sits entirely within the previously disturbed Comstock mine site, about 2km north-northwest of St Arnaud, and Aureka says its proposed work involves small-scale selective underground mining, shallow excavations and rehabilitation. A Prospecting Licence can support a limited-life operation for up to seven years, with a conventional Mining Licence potentially available later if geological work supports it.

Wedderburn Mill Provides the Proposed Processing Route

“Images from the Wedderburn Gold Processing Mill, the nominated site for processing of ore from Comstock Gold & Silver Project 45km away and where ample current spare capacity…”

The development concept relies on existing regional infrastructure rather than a new processing plant. Aureka plans to truck Comstock ore approximately 45km to its Wedderburn Gold Processing Mill, which is already processing ore from the Fiddlers Creek underground mine and is described by the company as having spare capacity. The plan gained practical relevance after the company’s Fiddlers Creek mill acquisition received shareholder backing in October.

Aureka says metallurgical testing will build on historical processing records and assess whether minor flow-sheet changes are needed. The company also intends to operate Comstock alongside Fiddlers Creek, although that remains a stated operating plan rather than an approved production schedule.

Resource and Drilling Data Still Require More Definition

Comstock currently carries a 1.45 million-tonne JORC Inferred Mineral Resource grading 1.21 grams per tonne gold for 56,500 ounces, alongside a conceptual Exploration Target of 112,000 to 116,000 ounces of gold. The Exploration Target is not a Mineral Resource and the company cautions that further work may not result in a compliant resource estimate.

“St Arnaud Comstock – Plan view of the Comstock pit with location of the mineral intercepts.”

“Location of the Comstock Project (circled in blue) on the Nelson line of reef within the St Arnaud Gold Project.”

Caption and image © Aureka Limited. From “Comstock Production Licence Granted”, 5 Nov 2026.

Recent drilling has supplied encouraging targets for that work, including 4.4 metres at 8.9 grams per tonne gold and 57.8 grams per tonne silver at the Comstock Shear, plus shallow high-grade intercepts in the Walkers Zone. Aureka plans to use further resource definition drilling, metallurgical studies and mine design work to assess the project. The reported intercepts are down-hole widths, with estimated true widths interpreted at between 50% and 80% of those widths.

Crown Land and Djaara Approvals Remain Ahead

Before site work can begin, Aureka must obtain Crown Land Minister consent through Parks Victoria, comply with an approved Work Plan and rehabilitation-bond requirements, and meet consultation and notification obligations under the Djaara Land Use Activity Agreement. The company also plans engagement with the St Arnaud community, neighbouring landholders and other stakeholders.

That approval sequence is important because the licence grant itself does not represent a decision to mine. Aureka has explicitly said it has not made that decision, while its 2026 Concept Study was not a Scoping Study, Pre-Feasibility Study or Feasibility Study and cannot support a production target or forecast financial outcomes.

Funding and Economic Proof Are the Next Tests

“HIGH grade drilling IN 2026”

The licence gives Aureka more room to test whether Comstock can become a satellite operation for Wedderburn, but it does not yet establish that the project will be economic. The company says additional funding will be required to progress Comstock and warns that funding may not be available when needed or may be dilutive to existing shareholders.

The next material markers are therefore practical rather than ceremonial: the remaining land and stakeholder consents, Work Plan approval, metallurgical results, a higher-confidence resource and any formal decision to mine. Until those pieces arrive, Comstock remains a permitted development concept with promising drilling around a relatively modest inferred resource, not a new production asset.