18 August 2026 | Beta Hunt, Kambalda, Western Australia
Westgold Resources has declared a maiden ore reserve of 13.5 million tonnes at 2.6 grams per tonne gold for 1.1 million ounces at the Fletcher deposit, creating a substantial new mineable inventory within its Beta Hunt underground complex near Kambalda.
The reserve is supported by completed mine planning, commercial evaluation and a pre-feasibility study. Westgold has also increased Fletcher's mineral resource by about 30% to 40.1 million tonnes at 2.3g/t gold for 3.0 million ounces. The indicated component has risen to 18.0 million tonnes at 2.7g/t for 1.55 million ounces, a 426% increase in indicated ounces.
Third mining front takes shape
About 74% of Fletcher's updated indicated resource ounces have converted to the maiden reserve. Westgold says this improves confidence in Fletcher's potential to become a third mining front at Beta Hunt, alongside the established Western Flanks and A Zone areas.
Beta Hunt's total ore reserve now stands at 21.7 million tonnes at 2.34g/t for 1.6 million ounces, while its mineral resource has reached 74.6 million tonnes at 2.25g/t for 5.4 million ounces. Since Westgold acquired the operation in August 2024, the Beta Hunt reserve has increased by 201% and the resource by 104%.
The company has completed more than 85 kilometres of drilling across Fletcher, much of it from within the active underground mine. Existing infrastructure has constrained some drill positioning, but the program has continued to expand the mineralised system and improve resource confidence.
Processing expansion under review
The larger Fletcher inventory is now supporting assessment of a four-million-tonne-per-annum processing case. Westgold is advancing a definitive feasibility study and says this work will be completed ahead of the planned expansion of the Higginsville processing capacity to 2.6Mtpa.
Beta Hunt mine output is already scheduled to rise from 1.7Mtpa to 2Mtpa during the 2027 financial year, excluding any contribution from Fletcher or the nearby Mason target. That separation makes Fletcher a potential additional source of underground activity rather than part of the existing production uplift.
Next steps
Westgold's next work includes completing the 4Mtpa processing expansion study, assessing underground mass-haulage options for Fletcher and continuing drilling along Fletcher's open northern extension. Drilling is also planned at Mason to test longer-term growth potential south of Fletcher.
The studies, continued underground drilling and possible processing expansion could support sustained activity across mining, technical services and plant operations if the project advances as planned.
Source: Westgold Resources Limited, "1.1Moz Maiden Fletcher Ore Reserve", 18 August 2026.