Key Highlights

•  Closely spaced grade control drilling at NW Pit identified zones of higher grade and greater width than the existing resource model predicted.

•  Grade control drilling defines ore boundaries ahead of mining, and results feed into the mine plan and short-term scheduling.

•  Assays from the final 40 holes are expected in November, and the announcement did not state Reach's ownership interest or the size of the current resource.

Reach Resources (ASX:RR1) has reported shallow, high-grade gold from grade control drilling at the NW Pit, part of its Murchison South Gold Project near Paynes Find in Western Australia. The closely spaced drilling identified zones of higher grade and greater width than the company's existing resource model predicted.

Grade control drilling is carried out ahead of mining to define ore boundaries in detail. Its results are used to plan how material is dug and separated, rather than to discover new deposits.

The drilling and key intercepts

The programme comprised 4,236m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling in 163 holes on a 10m by 10m grid across the first five proposed mining benches. Assays have been received for 123 holes, about 75% of the total, with the remaining 40 expected in November.

The best reported result was 7m at 7.5g/t gold from 20m in hole 26MSGC0091, including 2m at 24.6g/t gold. Hole 26MSGC0084 returned 15m at 2.2g/t gold from 2m, including 2m at 13.2g/t gold. Nine holes returned intervals above 5g/t gold. The intervals are downhole, and true widths were not stated.

The holes are shallow. According to chief executive Jeremy Bower, the deepest was 32m and more than 20% were under 20m deep.

Comparison with the resource model

The existing mineral resource was defined by drilling at roughly 20m by 20m spacing. The tighter grid found what Bower described as "zones of higher grade and greater width than our existing model predicted", including in an area previously classified as low grade. The company said the results confirm the geometry and continuity of the mineralised envelope.

That is a positive signal for mine planning, but grade control results can vary in both directions, and the final effect on mined grade and tonnes will only be known once all assays are interpreted and mining takes place. A quarter of the assays are still outstanding.

Mining partner and timeline

The grade control work is being completed by SMS Mining, a subsidiary of Andel Resources, under a binding right to mine agreement announced on 18 August 2026. Under such arrangements a third party typically funds and carries out mining in return for a share of proceeds, though the specific commercial terms were not detailed.

David Evans, general manager of geology and resource strategy at Andel Resources, said the data would help "accurately delineate ore-waste contacts on each bench", allowing selective mining.

Mining is expected to start in 2027. The announcement did not state Reach's ownership interest in the project or the size of the current resource.

Why it matters

For a small company, a right to mine agreement can offer a route to production without funding a full mining operation itself. Results that match or exceed the resource model support the case that the planned pit is well understood. However, the operation remains subject to final planning and the outstanding assays, and gold price movements and contractor performance will affect outcomes. Grade control results that exceed the model do not automatically translate into more gold recovered, because dilution, mining losses and processing recoveries also affect the final outcome of any mining campaign.

Next steps

The partners will now carry out grade control interpretation and estimation, which will feed into the mine plan and short-term scheduling. Assays from the final 40 holes are expected in November.

Reach also noted it has yet to drill mining leases M59/790, M59/786 and M59/799, which contain strike extensions of the Primrose shear and historical workings. Those leases represent exploration potential beyond the NW Pit, although no results have been reported from them so far, and any future drilling there would be needed before their significance can be assessed.