Waratah Minerals Unveils Aggressive 80,000m Spur Gold Drill Push, Seven Rigs Running in NSW

Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) Executive Chair Andrew Stewart outlined an aggressive exploration program at the company’s 100%-owned Spur Gold Project in New South Wales’ Macquarie Arc, pointing to rapid growth in drilling activity, a growing mineralized footprint, and a steady cadence of results as key elements of the company’s current strategy.

Focus on Spur near Orange in the Macquarie Arc

Stewart said Waratah is a “pre-mineral resource exploration company” focused on Spur, located about 30 kilometers west of Orange. He described the Macquarie Arc as Australia’s “premier copper and gold belt,” home to large deposits including Northparkes, Cadia, and Cowal, and emphasized that the area has strong mining infrastructure and an established workforce.

Zooming in on the project location, Stewart said Spur sits roughly 7–8 kilometers from the Cadia Valley operation and is “completely surrounded in majors,” characterizing the region as tightly held and heavily explored historically. He addressed the question of how an active exploration play can still exist close to long-producing mines, arguing Waratah’s approach and targeting are distinct from past efforts.

Company snapshot and investor positioning

Stewart highlighted what he described as strong investor appeal, including a share register with Australian and global institutions and investors he named as Gladstone, 1832, and Farjoy. He cited the following figures during his remarks:

• 300 million shares on issue
• Share price of AUD 0.62
• Market capitalization “just under” about AUD 200 million
• Cash on hand of AUD 30 million

He noted the company’s market capitalization was “in the AUD 20 million range” when it presented the prior year, describing the last 12 months as a period of rapid growth. Stewart also pointed to a board and team he said have experience with greenfields discoveries globally and with moving discoveries through to resources and “liquidity events” via sales, joint ventures, and other outcomes.

Unique tenure and project history

Stewart described Spur as a unique tenure position, stating it sits on a “mining common” (crown land) with “no native title” and “no freehold,” which he believes could enable faster progression from exploration to mine development than other projects. He also said Spur was the first copper and gold porphyry discovered in New South Wales, predating Cadia, and that major groups such as Anaconda and Cyprus explored the area in the 1970s and 1980s.

According to Stewart, historical work was “protracted” and intermittent, creating an opportunity for Waratah. He said the company initially liked the copper potential, but after walking the ground and reviewing old workings, it identified a gold opportunity and achieved “immediate success” after drilling.

Drilling scale-up and expanding gold trend

Stewart said Waratah has established a mineralized trend now extending over 6 kilometers around the Cargo intrusive complex. He described a progression from the initial Spur Zone drilling into the newer Consols discovery, and noted the company announced the acquisition of Ironclad earlier in the week of the presentation, calling it an important addition along that broader intrusive-related trend. He also referenced visiting the Alpine area and observing similar surface indications and historical workings.

At Spur, Stewart contrasted where the company was “this time last year” versus January, saying the Spur Zone has grown to about 1 kilometer by 250 meters with multiple high-grade shoots and broad mineralization at surface. He said the team’s step-out across the Essex Fault helped identify and expand the Consols area.

Operationally, he described the drilling program as one of the larger ones in New South Wales and said the company currently has seven drill rigs active, with a stated 80,000 meters of drilling underway. Stewart said Waratah would like to expand drilling further and emphasized the company’s willingness to drill aggressively to define and understand the system.

Spur and Consols: grades, geology, and early metallurgy comments

Stewart said that as understanding of the Spur system improved, drilling has outlined shallow-dipping, sub-parallel high-grade shoots within broader mineralized halos. He cited example intercepts including 1 meter over 100 g/t gold and 24 meters at 7 g/t, and described additional examples such as 2 meters at 8 g/t and 1 meter at 150 g/t occurring within broader halos around 1 g/t. He suggested earlier explorers may have focused on narrow high-grade zones and missed mineralization in the wall rock, which he said shows broader zones at “economic grades at these depths.”

On geology, Stewart characterized the mineralization as a “classic intermediate sulfidation vein” related to a porphyry in the district, and highlighted visible, coarse gold in diamond core as helpful for targeting and understanding deformation controls.

For Consols, Stewart said hole 62 “put us on the map,” describing it as delivering over 200 meters at 1 g/t, along with 38 meters at 3 g/t and 89 meters at 2 g/t. He said the discovery was initially intersected at depth (around 400–500 meters) and the company is now chasing it toward surface, where outcrops and old workings are present. He also referenced a more recent result he described as “a nice 12 m at close to 10 g,” stating the company is moving the system upward and drilling it aggressively.

Stewart also commented on metallurgy at Consols, describing “amazing recoveries” consistent with the presence of free, coarse gold and stating that test work supports expectations for good gravity recovery.

Looking ahead, Stewart said Waratah plans to continue stepping out and drilling around the intrusion, with Ironclad expected to be drilled in about six weeks, and reiterated the company’s intention to maintain a steady flow of exploration updates.

About Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM)

Waratah Minerals Limited operates as a diversified minerals exploration company. It explores for copper, gold, and nickel deposits. The company holds a 100% interest in the Spur Project, consisting of EL5238 located in central western New South Wales; Stavely-Stawell Project comprising a single exploration license, EL6871 located in western Victoria, Australia; and the Azura Project that consists of three granted exploration licenses, E80/4944, E80/5116, and E80/5347, and one application license, E80/5348, covering an area of approximately 258 square kilometers located in Western Australia.