Neometals uncovers a larger, higher-grade Ironclad gold resource

Ironclad Resource More Than Doubles

Neometals Ltd (ASX:NMT) has more than doubled the estimated gold inventory at its Ironclad deposit in Western Australia, reporting 250,000 tonnes at 3.9 grams per tonne for 31,000 ounces in an updated JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate. The company says contained ounces have increased by approximately 107% and grade by 144% compared with the March 2026 estimate.

The revised estimate contains 8,000 ounces in the Indicated category and 23,000 ounces in Inferred. That split matters: most of the reported resource remains in the lower-confidence category, where additional drilling is needed to improve confidence in geological and grade continuity.

Revised Geological Model Drives Grade Increase

The headline improvement is not simply a matter of adding tonnes. Neometals changed its interpretation of Ironclad’s stockwork mineralisation, replacing the broad wireframes and probabilistic categorical indicator kriging used in March with 12 discretely interpreted mineralised lodes estimated through ordinary kriging. The result was fewer tonnes at a higher grade.

Recent drilling helped support that interpretation, including intersections of 11 metres at 5.50g/t gold, 12 metres at 5.99g/t and 19 metres at 4.16g/t. The company’s September Ironclad drilling results had identified a high-grade, north-plunging corridor that now features prominently in the resource model.

Mining Services JV Sets Development Framework

Neometals is pursuing Ironclad through a binding Mining Services Joint Venture with BML Ventures. Under the arrangement, BML Ventures is responsible for funding and managing development and mining, can recover agreed costs from gold sales, and must share surplus proceeds equally with Neometals. The company retains 100% ownership of the mineral rights.

That proposed structure is intended to reduce the capital burden on Neometals, although the project remains part of a company portfolio where funding has been a live issue. October funding uncertainty included a warning that about A$5 million of additional funding might be required from December, while Ironclad development remained conditional on approvals, tolling arrangements and a final investment decision.

Native Title and Heritage Issues Remain

The next formal milestone is an authorisation meeting with the Yugunga-Nya Traditional Owners on 19 November, which is scheduled to consider the native title agreement and state deed needed to enable the mining lease to be granted. Neometals then expects to lodge its final project development approval documents and is targeting a final investment decision by the end of March 2027.

The resource is constrained within a conceptual open-pit shell using a gold price of A$6,500 per ounce and a 90% metallurgical recovery assumption. It is not an Ore Reserve, approved mine plan or production target. The company also notes that an area of cultural significance sits beside part of the potential pit, with a small overlap between the potential pit wall and a wider buffer zone. The current Competent Person did not undertake a site visit, while the company says the narrow lode interpretation remains uncertain in more sparsely drilled areas.

Drilling Could Reshape the Next Estimate

Neometals plans infill drilling in the first quarter of 2027, focusing on converting shallow, high-grade material from Inferred to Indicated. Extensional drilling is also planned above and below the same northerly trend, followed by another resource estimate.

That work will test whether the new model can translate into a larger and more confident mineable inventory. Until then, the 31,000-ounce figure is a promising resource milestone, but the economics still depend on converting Inferred ounces, resolving the heritage buffer, securing the mining lease and demonstrating that the proposed development arrangement can progress to a funded investment decision.