Waratah strengthens team to pursue growth beyond 3.1Moz Spur resource

Leadership changes follow 3.1Moz Spur resource

Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) is changing its leadership structure just days after declaring a 3.1 million-ounce maiden Mineral Resource at the Spur Gold Project in New South Wales. Andrew Stewart will take over as Executive Chair and Managing Director, while current Managing Director Peter Duerden will move into a Strategic Advisor role focused on exploration.

“Strategic Position in an Established Mining District.”

The reshuffle keeps Duerden’s geological expertise inside the company while giving Stewart responsibility for corporate strategy, project advancement and the next phase of growth. Waratah said its priorities now include expanding the resource, pursuing further discoveries, progressing technical studies and maintaining disciplined capital management.

New appointments add exploration and corporate depth

Naomi Scott will move from Non-Executive Director to Executive Director, with responsibility for sustainability, governance and stakeholder engagement. Michele Muscillo has joined the board as a Non-Executive Director, bringing corporate transaction and capital-markets experience from his legal career and current directorships.

Adrian Margiotta will become Chief Financial Officer from 23 November, while Mathew Brown has been appointed Head of Exploration. Brown has more than 25 years’ experience across iron oxide copper-gold, porphyry and epithermal systems, including senior roles with Placer Dome Asia Pacific, Barrick, Ivanhoe Mines and Xanadu Mines. The appointments indicate a company moving from discovery-led exploration towards the organisational demands of resource growth and project studies.

Resource growth now carries the investment case

Waratah’s maiden resource totals 3.1Moz at 1.2 grams per tonne gold across the Spur and Consols zones, combining open-pit and underground potential. The estimate contains 27% Indicated and 73% Inferred material, based on 175 drill holes and 72,890 metres of drilling. The company’s presentation also points to an Exploration Target of 5.1Moz to 10.4Moz across the wider project, although those figures are conceptual and are not Mineral Resources.

“East West Section 6299125 m N through the Spur block model showing drilling, inferred and indicated categories green-indicated, blue –inferred with oxide boundaries.”

Caption and image © Waratah Minerals Limited. From “Corporate Management Presentation”, 9 Nov 2026.

That expansion story has been building through the company’s drilling campaign. The latest resource sits alongside the earlier 46m high-grade Consols intercept, which graded 7.27 grams per tonne gold and helped extend the project’s high-grade footprint. Waratah now says it has a pathway towards a 5Moz resource, supported by a proposed 50,000-metre drilling program over six months and 12 active drill rigs, but it expressly describes that figure as aspirational and says it has no reasonable grounds to believe it can be achieved.

Funding and execution become the next tests

The company’s presentation reported A$44.5 million in cash at 30 September 2026, alongside a market capitalisation of about A$307 million based on a share price of A$0.79. Early metallurgical work has indicated gold recoveries above 90% through gravity and conventional leaching, but the filings provide no development timetable, project economics or production guidance.

The breadth of the new team reflects the gap between identifying ounces and proving they can support a viable operation. Waratah will need to convert conceptual targets into Mineral Resources, advance technical studies and show how far its cash balance can fund the planned drilling and project work. The immediate markers are the new CFO’s arrival, exploration results across the six-kilometre corridor and any resource update that tests the company’s 5Moz ambition.