Bonanza hits put Ora Banda on track for third WA underground gold mine

Ora Banda Mining has unveiled a suite of bonanza-grade gold hits from its Golden Pole Lode 1 prospect within its broader Waihi project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields. 

The spectacular results have confirmed strong mining potential, accelerating the company’s plans to incorporate them into an upcoming resource upgrade for Waihi. The stellar hits will also build further momentum towards a potential third underground mine to feed its nearby Davyhurst plant.

Standout intercepts from the latest campaign were led by a super high-grade hit grading three metres at 44 grams per tonne(g/t) gold from only 50m depth, featuring a higher-grade zone running at an eye-watering 2-metre section running at more than two ounces of gold to the tonne.

Additional hits included a blistering two-metre section grading 48.2g/t gold within a broader 11-metre intercept going 10.5g/t gold from 215.4m. A third hole presented a seven-metre hit grading 16.9g/t gold from 142.6m, with a standout three-metre section grading 31.3g/t

Ora Banda’s recently completed twenty-two-hole program aimed to infill and extend the mineralisation beneath the historical Golden Pond workings and confirm mineralisation around the new lode east of Golden Pole. Previous operators had poorly tested the system down plunge, providing the company with a massive opportunity to sniff out the full value of the lode.

The highly successful program has defined a northwest striking parallel high-grade shoot that remains open to the south and down plunge. Ora Banda says these results validate the scale of the system and its mining potential.

Ora Banda Mining managing director Luke Creagh said: “These excellent drill results build on a rapidly growing body of work at Waihi and we’re moving to incorporate these into an updated Waihi underground mineral resources and ore reserve estimate.”

The company has also achieved further success across its peripheral targets at the Waihi project, with the final 2025 drilling results now out of the assay lab.  Notable highlights from these targets included 1.9m grading 8.5g/t gold from Waihi West, whilst Waihi East delivered 1m grading 32g/t gold.

Tholeiitic and komatiitic basalts dominate the geology at Waihi, where gold mineralisation is tightly controlled by a network of ductile shear zones. These structures often host high-grade shoots within deformed quartz vein zones, presenting larger, blow-out-style ore bodies for Ora Banda to target.

Ora Banda says it’s now rapidly incorporating these latest Golden Pole drilling results into an updated mineral resource and an underground ore reserve estimate for the Waihi project. Both updates are slated for release early in the June quarter, likely adding further heft to the company’s already impressive global resource base of 3.3 million ounces.

The company recently banked a massive $76.3 million in free cash flow from its Davyhurst assets in a record-breaking March quarter. With its operations centralised around its wholly owned Davyhurst processing plant. 

With a bulging $231.7 million war chest already in the bank, Ora Banda looks well-funded to convert its growing pipeline of exploration wins into near-term developments. 

Waihi now appears the next cab off the rank and could become the company’s third underground mine when updated mineral resource and maiden underground ore reserve estimates land early in the June quarter. 

Add three mining operations and a rapidly expanding resource base and Ora Banda seems to be firing on all cylinders towards a golden future.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au