KEY POINTS
- British Hill’s resource has increased to 3.29 million tonnes at 1.66 g/t gold, containing 175,690 ounces.
- More than half of the resource is now in the higher-confidence indicated category.
- Forrestania is conducting open-pit studies while continuing drilling to expand the deposit.
Forrestania Resources has announced a major upgrade to the mineral resource estimate for its British Hill gold deposit in Western Australia, strengthening the project’s potential to become an important future production asset within the company’s Forrestania Hub.
The updated resource estimate is now 3.29 million tonnes grading 1.66 grams of gold per tonne, containing an estimated 175,690 ounces of gold at a cut-off grade of 0.5 grams per tonne.
A key feature of the latest estimate is the significant increase in the higher-confidence indicated resource category.
Indicated resources now account for 2.03 million tonnes grading 1.54 grams per tonne, representing about 100,260 ounces of gold.
This means more than half of the total gold inventory has moved into the indicated category, providing the company with greater confidence as it advances development studies.
The upgrade is particularly important because indicated resources are supported by a stronger level of geological understanding and can provide a more reliable basis for mine planning and economic assessments.
Open-Pit Mining Studies Underway
Forrestania Resources considers British Hill to be a structurally controlled greenstone gold system with characteristics that could make it suitable for conventional open-pit mining.
The company has begun pit optimisation studies to assess the potential economics of extracting the deposit through an open-pit operation. These studies are being conducted using a gold price assumption of AUD$5,500 per ounce.
The outcome of the optimisation work could provide greater clarity on the size and potential design of a future mining operation, as well as help determine the project’s economic viability.
The company is also continuing an aggressive exploration programme at British Hill.
Reverse-circulation drilling is currently targeting extensions of the mineralised zone both vertically and horizontally. Forrestania Resources said the mineralisation remains open in several directions, suggesting that the existing resource could potentially grow further.
Additional assay results from the third stage of the company’s drilling programme are expected to be released as they become available.
Forrestania Resources chairman David Geraghty described the updated resource as an important milestone for British Hill, highlighting both the size of the gold inventory and the increase in higher-confidence resources.
According to Geraghty, the updated estimate provides a strong foundation for further development studies and supports the company’s strategy of advancing gold assets that could offer near-term production opportunities.
He also pointed to the continued drilling success and the fact that mineralisation remains open in multiple directions as evidence of the deposit’s potential for further growth.
