Astral Resources (ASX: AAR) has re-estimated the mineral resource at Spargoville, its second-largest gold project near Kalgoorlie, to 8.5 million tonnes at 1.0 grams a tonne for 281,000 ounces, up from 139,000 ounces (3.0 million tonnes at 1.4 grams a tonne) in May 2025. The indicated, higher-confidence category rose 130 percent to 186,000 ounces, with 95,000 ounces inferred. The project, about 70 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie and adjoining Astral’s flagship Mandilla project, has no ore reserve yet.
The increase came from a geological reinterpretation and re-estimation of four deposit groups, the Spiders cluster (combining Redback, Huntsman, Trapdoor, Golden Orb and S5), 8500N, 5B and Eagles Nest, which together hold about 240,000 ounces; Wattle Dam Stockwork, Hilditch and Larkinville were not updated and contribute 42,000 ounces. The arithmetic is straightforward: tonnage nearly tripled while grade fell by almost a third, because the re-optimisation used a lower 0.40g/t cut-off and larger pit shells priced at A$4,500 an ounce, plus mining and processing assumptions aligned with the upcoming Mandilla definitive feasibility study. Managing director Marc Ducler called the A$4,500 assumption conservative and said it shows the underlying metrics are robust.
With Mandilla’s 1.74 million ounces and Feysville’s 196,000 ounces, the group resource now stands at 2.21 million ounces. Only 16,000 metres of drilling has been completed at Spargoville since Astral acquired Maximus Resources in 2025, and the company is back drilling at the Spiders deposit this quarter. Separately, Astral agreed to acquire the Spargoville nickel rights from Estrella Resources for 20 million shares at a deemed A$0.15 (about A$3 million), removing third-party tenure obstacles over the Mandilla development footprint, with completion expected by October 12.