Tolu Minerals Ltd. has delivered an 81 per cent increase in the mineral resource estimate for its Tolukuma gold mine in Papua New Guinea, pushing total contained gold at the site to 909,000 ounces.
The resource upgrade follows just four months of full-scale drilling between February and June, alongside a comprehensive overhaul of the project’s geological model.
The updated resource totals 4.31 million tonnes at 6.57 grams per tonne gold and 28.2 grams per tonne silver.
The revision includes a maiden Indicated Resource of 199,000 ounces, providing a firm operational foundation as Tolu targets a return to gold production in early 2027.
Combining Tolukuma’s updated inventory with the nearby Saki deposit brings Tolu’s total reported gold resources in Papua New Guinea to 1.04 million ounces.
Tolu CEO Chris Muller said the rapid resource growth validates the predictive capability of the rebuilt geological framework.
“The updated estimate gives us a much stronger foundation as we bring Tolukuma back into production early next year,” Muller said.
“With the previously reported Saki resource nearby, Tolu now has more than one million ounces of reported gold resources in Papua New Guinea, and we believe we are only beginning to demonstrate the scale of this system.”
He noted that the eight-kilometre Tolukuma vein system remains largely unexplored, with past mining covering just 1.2 kilometres of strike.
Furthermore, while the updated geological model identifies 44 mineralised veins and splays, only 10 are incorporated into the current estimate, leaving considerable scope for future additions.
The company is executing a 75,000-metre near-mine drilling campaign utilising seven operational rigs. This program aims to further define the Central Mine Zone along with the Northern and Southern Expansion Zones ahead of a subsequent resource update planned for 2027.
Tolu remains on track to recommence production in the first quarter of 2027 by leveraging existing, fully permitted infrastructure, including an established processing plant, hydroelectric power station, and underground workings, subject to final refurbishment, dewatering, and access upgrades.