Ora Banda reveals new large-scale mining corridor in WA

Ora Banda Mining has grabbed a saddlebag of stunning high-grade hits from reverse circulation drilling at the company’s Round Dam prospect, 15 kilometres south of the company’s highly successful Davyhurst gold operations.

The company says the drill bit has now identified six subparallel, continuous gold targets along a trend, suggesting the emergence of a brand-new mineralised system previously overlooked by the old timers.

 Standout intercepts included a 12-metre section running at 21.5g/t within a broader 14-metre interval grading 18.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 75m depth. Another hole gave up a 5-metre slice assaying a whopping 48.6g/t gold as part of a wider 7-metre hit going 35g/t gold from 137m. 

The results point to a 7-kilometre corridor containing multiple high-grade mineralised shoots, some of them shallow, enhancing surface mining opportunities near the company’s Davyhurst Mill in WA. 

Multiple wide hits, including 33m grading 4.6g/t gold from 104m, 26m going 2g/t from 110m  and 32m running 0.9/t gold from 110m, have further boosted the potential for bulk tonnage open pit mining.

Ora Banda Mining has focused its latest drilling efforts on a 7-kilometre section within the 18-kilometre trend that runs from its Waihi prospect in the north to the company’s Salmon Gums target in the south.

Ora Banda Mining managing director Luke Creagh said: “Today’s Round Dam results are another highlight in the company’s ongoing $73 million FY26 exploration strategy to target projects with the potential to become mines in short order, supporting the company’s organic growth strategy.’

The company has recently signed off on $63 million in key investments to crank up capacity across the Davyhurst Mill. The centrepiece is a $10 million commitment to push into front-end engineering and design (FEED) as Ora Banda advances plans to expand the current 1.2 million tonne per year (Mtpa) processing capacity to three million tonnes, as outlined in its definitive feasibility study (DFS).

The company is sharpening the final design specs and capex requirements for the new mill to sit alongside the existing 1.2Mtpa plant and expects to complete construction early in the June quarter. 

The next box to be ticked will be a $30 million injection of capital to kick off open-pit mining at Waihi, just three kilometres from the Davyhurst plant. The development will bring Waihi into the fold as the company's third mining operation, feeding ore to the existing mill.

Waihi’s Golden Pole lode has recently revealed a string of outstanding results, including a best intercept of 7m assaying 27.4g/t gold, including 2m going at a spectacular grade of almost three ounces to the tonne gold.

Ora Banda says a resource update on Waihi is planned for the June quarter and will incorporate the latest drilling hits. The project is a high-grade, multi-deposit system, with a 2020 resource estimate of 914,000 tonnes grading 2.4g/t for 71,000 ounces of gold.

Ora Banda is playing a savvy long game by injecting capital into existing infrastructure, chasing organic upside through focused exploration and positioning for bigger production runs. 

In a sector where execution and longevity count, this commitment looks like a solid step towards turning Davyhurst into a genuine multi-mine, multi-million-ounce gold story. 

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