Key Highlights

  • Resources Victoria granted prospecting licence PL008915 for the Comstock Gold and Silver Project on 4 November.
  • The seven-year licence covers about 4.5 hectares within the Comstock mine site near St Arnaud.
  • Work cannot begin until Crown land consent, Djaara agreement requirements and work plan approval are secured.
  • If Mining proceeds, Comstock ore would be treated at Aureka's Wedderburn mill, about 45 kilometres away.

Aureka (ASX:AKA) announced on 5 November 2026 that Resources Victoria had granted prospecting licence PL008915 for its Comstock Gold and Silver Project near St Arnaud in central Victoria. The licence was granted on 4 November, less than four months after the application lodged by Aureka's wholly owned subsidiary, North Central Gold Exploration, was accepted.

The licence runs for seven years and covers about 4.5 hectares within the Comstock mine site, roughly 2 kilometres north-north-west of St Arnaud. It includes the Walkers zone and the main Comstock Shear, both target areas for mining.

What a prospecting licence permits

In Victoria, a prospecting licence covers a small area and allows exploration and small-scale mining, subject to further approvals. Aureka's proposed activities focus on small-scale selective underground mining, shallow excavations and rehabilitation.

The licence does not allow work to start immediately. Before any activity, Aureka must secure Crown land ministerial consent through Parks Victoria, satisfy the requirements of the Djaara Land Use Activity Agreement and obtain work plan approval. The Djaara are the Traditional Owners of the area, and the agreement sets out processes for activities on Crown land within their country.

Management comment

Managing Director James Gurry said securing the company's first production licence was an important milestone. He said that, in his view, a grant in under four months was another sign Victoria was emerging as a Jurisdiction that supports responsible industry.

Chief Operating Officer Zane Smith said the focus would turn to resource definition, metallurgical studies, site readiness and the consent and engagement requirements that apply before work begins.

Processing plan

If mining proceeds, Aureka plans to treat Comstock ore at its wholly owned Wedderburn gold processing mill, about 45 kilometres away. Wedderburn is already processing ore from the company's Fiddlers Creek underground mine, so Comstock would add a second feed source.

Comstock ore will undergo metallurgical testing, building on production records from 1992 to 1995, when Glenburn Manor extracted about 8,000 ounces of gold.

The geology

In June 2025, Aureka defined a maiden JORC resource of 1.45 million tonnes at 1.21g/t gold for 56,500 ounces at Comstock. In August 2026, diamond drilling on the Comstock Shear returned 4.4 metres at 8.9g/t gold and 57.8g/t silver from 102.8 metres, intersecting mineralisation 48 metres below surface within the licence boundary.

Intercepts at the Walkers zone include 2.65 metres at 5.78g/t from 20.5 metres, including 0.35 metres at 34.2g/t from 21.5 metres.

Why it matters

Small-scale mining near an existing mill can generate Cash Flow with limited capital. For Aureka, adding Comstock feed to Wedderburn could improve plant utilisation. Victoria's goldfields have attracted renewed interest, and the speed of this grant may encourage other small operators.

Qualifications

The licence area is very small, and the resource is modest. Selective underground mining of narrow zones can be costly per tonne. The remaining consents could take time, and the timing of any first ore was not given.

Central Victoria's goldfields were among the richest in the world during the nineteenth century, and many historical mines closed with significant mineralisation remaining. Modern operators have revisited some of those sites using current exploration and mining methods. Aureka's model of trucking small volumes of high-grade ore to its own mill is suited to that kind of opportunity, because it avoids building a plant at each site. It also depends on keeping Wedderburn consistently supplied with ore from more than one source.

What comes next

Aureka's next steps are resource definition, metallurgical testwork, site preparation and securing Crown land consent, Djaara agreement requirements and work plan approval. On 12 November the company also lodged a notice of a proposed issue of securities.