High-Tech Metals puts three WA gold deposits on the drill schedule

Drilling targets 139,000oz across three deposits

High-Tech Metals Ltd (ASX:HTM) has moved from resource modelling to the drill rig, starting a roughly 3,000-metre Phase 2 reverse circulation program at its Mt Fisher and Wagtail gold projects in Western Australia’s Northern Goldfields. About 2,500 metres will be drilled at Mt Fisher and 500 metres at Wagtail, with the stated aim of extending the resource base and increasing confidence in existing estimates.

“Mt Fisher and Mt Eureka targets with deposits and prospects marked over geophysics.”

The campaign adds a defined near-term assay catalyst to a broader sequence of work. First Mt Fisher results are expected in three to four weeks, while the rig is due to move to Damsel after completing the current program. That next campaign could involve up to 7,500 metres of RC drilling at the company’s largest deposit, which carries a 75,000-ounce Mineral Resource.

Mt Fisher follows a 47% resource increase

At Mt Fisher, the drilling follows a resource update that lifted the estimate by 47% to 800,000 tonnes at 2.0 grams per tonne of gold for 51,000 ounces, including a 27,000-ounce Inferred underground component beneath the optimised open-pit shell. The program will test northern extensions, down-plunge mineralisation beneath the historical pit, interpreted higher-grade shoots and parts of the Inferred resource that could potentially support a higher classification.

Those targets build on Phase 1 intersections, including 12 metres at 2.30 grams per tonne from 171 metres, with a five-metre interval at 4.95 grams per tonne. The results are encouraging exploration data, but they do not establish an Ore Reserve or demonstrate that mining would be economic. The next assays will show whether the mineralisation continues beyond the current model in the areas selected for follow-up drilling.

Wagtail tests a small but high-grade resource

“Tier-1 neighbours, multiple processing options”

Wagtail is a smaller deposit by ounces but carries a higher reported grade: 105,000 tonnes at 3.8 grams per tonne for 13,000 ounces, with roughly 73% classified as Indicated. The 500 metres of drilling will test extensions down plunge beneath historical workings and along strike to the north and south, while also filling gaps in the existing resource.

Previous shallow intersections included five metres at 44.41 grams per tonne, including one metre at 220.8 grams per tonne, and 10 metres at 10.37 grams per tonne, including one metre at 92.15 grams per tonne. Such narrow, high-grade intervals can be significant to a deposit’s geological model, but the filing describes Wagtail’s mineralisation as coarse-gold and quartz-vein hosted, making continuity and representative estimation important questions for the development studies.

Forrestania pathway remains subject to technical work

Alongside the drilling, HTM is continuing metallurgical testwork on Mt Fisher primary mineralisation and stockpile material. The work follows the binding Forrestania ore agreement, which established a potential processing pathway through existing infrastructure, rather than a confirmed production outcome.

The company says it has approximately A$8.9 million in cash and a total Mineral Resource of 202,000 ounces across 3.9 million tonnes at 1.61 grams per tonne. The current drilling sequence is therefore aimed at expanding and improving the quality of the inventory, but HTM has not estimated an Ore Reserve for Mt Fisher and has not made a decision to mine. The practical test is whether the resource work, metallurgical results and processing discussions can eventually be converted into a technically and economically viable development plan.