West Australian gold exploration and development company Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) has announced encouraging initial results from its extensive 35,000-metre diamond drilling (DD) and reverse circulation (RC) program at the Youanmi Gold Project in Western Australia.
The company also provided updates on its ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) workstreams, demonstrating significant progress towards project development.
The drilling campaign, which commenced ahead of schedule in December 2024, has already yielded impressive intercepts across multiple resource areas.
Notably, the Pollard zone returned high-grade results, including 4.94 metres at 84.55 g/t gold from 312.7 metres depth.
Other significant intersections were reported from Youanmi Main, United North, Hill End, and Rebel prospects, indicating the potential for resource expansion and increased confidence in the existing mineral inventory.
Rox Resources’ CEO, Phillip Wilding, expressed enthusiasm about the initial findings, stating: “Initial results from our 35,000 metre step-up DD and RC program have returned fantastic intercepts from all resource areas, but especially Pollard and United North.”
He emphasised that the ongoing drilling efforts, with five rigs currently on site, are aimed at growing the resource base and increasing the Indicated resource category to support a revised reserve and mine plan.
In parallel with the drilling program, Rox is making substantial progress on its DFS workstreams.
The company is targeting an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) by mid-2025.
Metallurgical test work is well underway, with comminution and flotation studies in progress.
The company expects to deliver concentrate samples for Albion Process testing in the coming weeks.
Civil engineering work has commenced for the dewatering of the Youanmi open pit and underground mine.
Crews are currently refurbishing evaporation ponds, and applications have been lodged with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to relocate water into the Kathleen and Rebel pits.
Dewatering infrastructure has been ordered, and accommodation upgrades are progressing to support the increased activity on site.
The company has also strengthened its management team with the appointments of a Chief Financial Officer, General Manager of Operations, and Manager of Environment and Sustainability, further positioning itself for the project’s advancement.
As Rox Resources continues to execute its parallel workstreams, the company remains on track to deliver the Youanmi DFS in the second half of 2025.
With the current robust gold prices and the project’s historical production of 667,000 ounces grading 5.42 g/t gold, Youanmi is shaping up to be a significant high-grade gold development opportunity in Western Australia’s premier gold province.
