Western Gold Resources Limited (ASX: WGR) has announced the receipt of first assay results from its grade control and infill drilling program at the Gold Duke Project, located 35km southwest of Wiluna. Western Gold Resources is focused on gold exploration and mine development in Western Australia. To date, the company has completed over 16,000 metres of the planned 35,300-metre drilling program, representing approximately 45% of the total program, which remains on schedule.
The initial assay results, received in raw data format, pertain to 20 holes of the 1,107 holes planned for the Eagle prospect. The company indicated it prefers to report drill results after receiving and interpreting a larger quantity of assays, consistent with standard practice for large programs like Gold Duke. Early disclosure would only occur if results were clearly market sensitive, which is not the case here, involving less than 2% of planned holes. Samples from the first 702 metres of drilling, performed at 1.0-metre intervals, were delivered to the laboratories.
According to Western Gold Resources, this pre-production drilling is designed to de-risk operations and enhance mine scheduling flexibility, effectively eliminating the need for grade control during production. The program is aimed to support rapid advancement towards a late Q4 2025 mining start. The company is also advancing an Updated Scoping Study, which is currently in the final review stage, as a strong and sustained gold price above A$5,400/oz has the potential to further enhance the economics of the Gold Duke Project.
In addition to drilling updates, Western Gold Resources confirmed that all funds have been received and secured loan agreements have been executed for the non-dilutive $3 million secured loan facility. The company is preparing to issue a total of 19 million unlisted options to the lenders and the lead manager, each with an exercise price of $0.15 and an expiry date two years from the date of issue.
