Bellavista Resources has reported further high-grade gold intersections at Pickle Crow, strengthening its case for reassessing the project’s shallow resource as a potential open pit. The drilling remains exploratory, with updated modelling not due until mid-2027.
- 4.7m at 9.7g/t gold, including 1.6m at 28.3g/t
- 0.7m at 56.2g/t gold from 93m
- Drilling targets the shallow 1Moz portion of a 2.8Moz resource
- Resource remodelling planned for mid-2027
- Approximately $28m cash reported at 30 September 2026
High-grade results reinforce shallow open-pit strategy
Bellavista Resources Ltd (ASX:BVR) has added another batch of strong gold assays to its case for a shallow open pit at the Pickle Crow Gold Project in Ontario, including 4.7 metres at 9.7 grams per tonne gold from 42.4 metres and 0.7 metres at 56.2g/t from 93 metres. The results come from ongoing infill and extensional diamond drilling across Zones 1 and 3.
The latest intersections also include 9.6 metres at 4.5g/t from 112.8 metres, 7.6 metres at 4.2g/t from 111.6 metres and 2.4 metres at 10.1g/t from 27.6 metres. Bellavista said the drilling is confirming shallow mineralisation in expected positions while identifying extensions below or outside the previous 2023 pit-shell optimisation.
Drilling targets 1Moz above 260 metres
The campaign is focused on the upper 260 metres of Pickle Crow, which contains an estimated 1 million ounces at 4.1g/t gold using a 0.5g/t cut-off. That figure is part of a broader 2.8Moz inferred resource grading 7.2g/t, and is reported without applying open-pit or underground mining shapes.
The current program follows Bellavista’s 15,000-metre Pickle Crow drilling program, launched in June to test the shallow resource. The company now intends to continue drilling through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027, with follow-up work aimed at testing extensions and previously untested shallow targets.
Older pit shells face higher gold price assumptions
Bellavista’s open-pit strategy is partly built around the age of the existing optimisation. The previous pit shells were generated in 2023 using a gold price of US$1,850 an ounce and a higher open-pit cut-off grade than the company plans to apply in its next assessment. Bellavista said the new drilling may support shells extending deeper than previously indicated, but that outcome depends on updated geological interpretation, resource modelling and economic optimisation.
Managing Director Glenn Jardine said the shallow results increasingly point to gold mineralisation beginning at or just below surface, while the resource below 260 metres contains a further 1.8Moz at 8.1g/t. Those deeper ounces are described by the company as a high-grade underground resource, not as a demonstrated development plan.
Mid-2027 remodelling is the next major test
Bellavista plans to update its geological interpretation and remodel the resource in mid-2027 using open-pit cut-off grades and higher gold-price assumptions. The reported intersections are down-hole lengths, with true widths not yet known, and the shallow resource remains inferred and unconstrained by mining shapes. Those qualifications leave considerable work between encouraging assays and a mineable reserve.
The company reported approximately $28 million in cash at 30 September 2026 and is also reviewing near-mine and regional targets using its geophysical and geochemical database. The more immediate question is whether continued drilling can establish enough continuity, width and geometry for the next pit-shell exercise to convert geological promise into an economically credible open-pit design.
Bottom Line?
The assays improve the geological case for a deeper or larger pit, but the investment thesis now rests on continuity drilling and the mid-2027 remodelling rather than on isolated high-grade intersections.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the shallow mineralisation prove sufficiently continuous and wide when incorporated into a new resource model?
- How much of the 1Moz shallow inferred resource can ultimately support an economically viable open-pit design?
- Will the mid-2027 pit-shell optimisation materially change the balance between Pickle Crow’s open-pit and underground opportunities?