Ballard Mining has found multiple mineralised zones at its Mt Ida gold project in Western Australia.
The miner said it identified high-grade mineralisation at the Pluto and Astro-Quasar prospects, signifying the potential for multiple gold zones in the area.
At the Pluto prospect, drilling results showed an average of 9.4 grams of gold for every metric tonne (g/t) at 5 metres from a depth of 46 metres.
Ballard said further assays confirm 900 metres long Astro-Quasar trend. Drilling showed 2.6 g/t at 2 metres from 13 metres.
Ballard Mining managing director Paul Brennan said the first phase of the company’s regional exploration program has indicated substantial gold mineralisation at identified prospects.
“It has become evident that there are multiple parallel zones of mineralisation along both the Ballard Fault and the Baldock Thrust shear zones,” Brennan said.
“This is a very fertile system and these early drill results are comparable to the initial exploration results received at Baldock which has subsequently grown from 141,000 ounces to a 930,000 ounces resource.”
The results support Ballard’s strategy to expand its resource base and extend the mine life at Baldock to eight to ten years. Ballard is pursuing a dual stream growth and development strategy.
With infill drilling nearing completion, Ballard will shift its focus in 2026 to adding resources.
“Looking ahead to the 2026 calendar year, our focus will shift entirely to adding resources to support our targeted 8 to 10 year mine plan,” Brennan said.
“We expect this to come from a combination of extensional drilling at Baldock and exploration success from the regional prospects.”
