Ballard Mining Extends Mineralisation at Mt Ida’s West Knell Gold Target in WA

Ongoing drilling by Ballard Mining (ASX: BM1) at the West Knell target within its Mt Ida gold project in Western Australia has extended the mineralisation further north and at depth below previous campaigns.

Drilling at the north end of the shallow deposit along the Ballard Fault Zone returned the project’s best intersection to date of 9 metres at 27.1 grams per tonne gold from 191m, representing a 244 gram-metre result.

Other highlights of 2m at 5.6g/t gold from 69m; 4m at 7.2g/t gold from 192m and 2m at 4.4g/t gold from 35m have strengthened confidence that the underexplored 13 kilometre-long corridor is emerging as a camp-scale opportunity.

Continued strong results have demonstrated considerable strike continuity and extended the mineralisation to approximately 1.4km in length.

Regional Drilling Conducted

Ballard has been conducting regional resource growth drilling along the Ballard Fault Zone at West Knell (including the Ayla and Europa prospects), Neptune, and Golden Vale.

Work has also been ongoing at the Baldock Thrust, which features the Pluto, Constellation, Jupiter, Lunar, and Astro-Quasar targets.

The company has identified significant mineralisation at Kestrel (with a mineral resource estimate of 53,000 ounces), West Knell (40,000oz), and Golden Vale (27,000oz).

West Knell—where Ballard expects to be granted a mining lease during the September quarter—is being evaluated as a potential satellite ore source to support a proposed standalone gold operation at Mt Ida.

Its shallow depth, favourable geometry, and proximity to planned infrastructure positioning it as a potential contributor to future mine schedules and production growth.

Camp-Scale Potential

“This result strengthens confidence that the underexplored 13km Ballard Fault Zone is emerging as a potential camp-scale opportunity,” managing director Paul Brennan said.

“The Baldock Thrust has historically received greater exploration focus since the Baldock discovery hole.”

“The Ballard Fault hosts the same rocks as Baldock and lies on the eastern side of the Copperfield Granite intrusion, [and] we are confident it will make a significant contribution to the scale of Mt Ida, which demonstrates the potential to evolve into a multi-million-ounce gold district.”

Located 540km northeast of Perth over 26km of prospective Greenstone belt folded around the Copperfield Granite, the Mt Ida project hosts a mineral resource estimate of 12.2 million tonnes grading 3g/t gold for 1.2Moz of contained gold (indicated and inferred).

The cornerstone Baldock deposit, which hosts more than 1.0Moz at 3.5g/t gold, will form the basis for initial open pit and underground development opportunities.