Astral Resources (ASX: AAR) has announced a significant 49% increase in indicated resources at its Mandilla gold project, located near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The company’s updated JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE) now stands at 42 million tonnes at 1.1 grams per tonne gold, totaling 1.43 million ounces of contained gold. This marks a 13% overall increase compared to the previous estimate of 37 million tonnes at 1.1 grams per tonne for 1.27 million ounces, announced in July 2023.
According to Managing Director Marc Ducler, Astral’s strategic focus has been de-risking the Mandilla gold project, particularly by upgrading inferred mineral resources to the higher-confidence indicated category through in-fill drilling at the Theia deposit. This strategy has proven highly successful, with the updated MRE showing a substantial increase in indicated mineral resources to 1.03 million ounces. These resources will form the basis of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), supplemented by contributions from the Kamperman and Think Big deposits at Feysville. The Mandilla MRE employed a 0.39g/t gold cut-off within pit shells derived using a gold price of $3,500/oz, resulting in a discovery cost of $26/oz. Astral is also progressing with a new reverse circulation drill program consisting of 46 holes for 5,740 metres at Feysville.
