Key Highlights

  • The Tunkillia gold resource is now 1.5Moz at 0.78 g/t, with 989koz classified as Measured and Indicated.
  • Measured resources of 151koz were added, and 81% of the optimised pit inventory is now Measured or Indicated.
  • The updated estimate is based on 57,653m of drilling across 520 holes completed since the May 2025 scoping study.
  • A pre-feasibility study is targeted for completion during the first quarter of calendar 2027.

Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX:BGD) has released an upgraded JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate for gold and silver at its Tunkillia Gold Project in South Australia. The announcement dated 11 November 2026 follows a major infill drilling campaign and re-estimates the resource within the pit shells used in the May 2025 optimised scoping study.

What changed in the resource

Tunkillia’s gold resource is now 1,500koz, from 59.5Mt at 0.78 g/t, with 989koz classified as Measured and Indicated. Of that, 151koz is Measured, which the company said was zero in the March 2025 estimate. Measured and Indicated gold inside the optimised pit shells rose 14%, from 724koz to 822koz.

The company estimated the resource more conservatively, constraining the grade to the optimised pit shells. Overall contained gold inside those shells fell 2%, from 1,035koz to 1,011koz, with average grade rising marginally to 0.83 g/t.

How the scoping study holds up

The company said the May 2025 scoping study was validated by the new estimate, with variation of only about 2% in the materials inside the optimised pits compared with the March 2025 figures. The share of material classified as Measured or Indicated inside those pits has risen to 81%.

Barton also reported a silver resource of 2,759koz, estimated as a by-product of the gold mineralisation, from 31.6Mt at 2.71 g/t. The company said a resampled and upgraded silver estimate is expected in the first quarter of 2027.

Pre-feasibility work and growth potential

The company noted 6.2Mt of Indicated resources, containing 131koz of gold, outside the May 2025 pit shells. It sees these as potential for growth in the pre-feasibility study, which is targeted for the first quarter of calendar 2027.

The estimate is a resource, not a reserve, and the pre-feasibility study will need to address mining, processing and cost inputs that are not covered by this update.

Final Word

Barton’s upgraded resource confirms much of the material the scoping study relied on and increases its classification. The pre-feasibility study, the updated silver estimate and the treatment of the material outside the existing pit shells will determine how far the project can move from scoping towards a development case.