Westgold Resources shares buoy on better than expected gold reserves
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Westgold Resources’ share price is up after reporting better than anticipated gold reserves under its first mineral resource estimate for the Fletcher Zone, almost doubling the resources at its Beta Hunt mine in Western Australia.
The numbers: Shares in Westgold Resources had increased 2.6% to $3 at 10:59am AEST.
Westgold Resources has announced a maiden mineral resource estimate of 31 million tonnes at a grade of 2.3 grams per tonne of gold. This comes to 2.3 million ounces of gold.
In September 2024, Westgold Resources had declared an initial stage one exploration target of between 12 million to 16 million tonnes at a grade of between 2.1 to 2.5 grams per tonne of gold for 0.8 million to 1.2 million tonnes of gold.
The estimate is also larger than the overall global Fletcher Zone exploration target.
The context: Stage one mineral resource conversion drilling has commenced at Fletcher, with Westgold targeting a maiden ore reserve in financial year 2026.
RBC Capital analysts reiterated their ‘outperform’ rating on the stock and flagged that the “larger than anticipated” resource estimate “could help underpin potential mine expansion and life extension at the key mine site”.
What they said: “This result points to the growth potential of Beta Hunt, and while this is a material milestone for Westgold, it is simply the first step on what is likely to be a multi-decade journey for Fletcher in an expanded Beta Hunt mine plan,” Westgold managing director and chief executive Wayne Bramwell said.
The source: ASX
