Kaiser Reef soil survey lights up 4.4km VIC gold trend

Profitable, dual-asset gold producer Kaiser Reef has lit up a 4.4-kilometre-long gold trend at its Maldon project in Victoria after a low-cost soil sampling program returned peak values of an impressive 2.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.

The company says the infill survey has confirmed strong and continuous gold and arsenic anomalism along multiple structures, firming up a pipeline of new drill targets in a goldfield that historically coughed up a whopping 1.75 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 28 g/t.

The latest survey at the project covered a 2.7-square-kilometre slice of prospective ground to the north of the historic workings, an area where no previous soil data was available.

Kaiser says the results from its 40 metre-by-40 metre grid survey have now defined an anomaly extending over 1.5km in strike length reinforcing prospectivity along the whole 4.4km of strike on a granted mining lease.

Four distinct north-south anomalous trends were identified, with the Cumberland, North of England and Sailors trends showing results between 150 and 250 parts per billion (ppb) gold whilst Ivy showed values around 100ppb.

Notably, arsenic, a well-known pathfinder element for gold, correlated strongly with the results presenting an encouraging sign given the project’s blockbuster history and historical gold endowment.

The Maldon goldfield was one of Victoria’s richest, yet Kaiser believes it remains substantially underexplored. The company is already sitting on a 187,000-ounce gold resource at its Union Hill deposit within the project and operates its own processing facility at the Porcupine Flat plant nearby.

Maldon represents a district-scale gold opportunity for Kaiser, with numerous historical mines and lines of working that remain substantially underexplored, despite having historically produced an enviable 1.75Moz at 28g/t.

The exploration success comes as the company continues to build momentum across its two Tier-1 Australian assets. In the recent June quarter, Kaiser poured 6000 ounces of gold, with its workhorse Henty mine in Tasmania delivering 5563 ounces and Maldon chipping in 437 ounces as it continues to ramp up.

In what was a strong quarter for the company, Kaiser managed to pay down debt and finish with a healthy $37.2 million in cash providing plenty of firepower for its exploration ambitions at Maldon. Importantly, Kaiser also reaffirmed its production guidance of 32,000 ounces of gold across the Maldon and Henty operations for the 2027 financial year.

With a host of compelling soil anomalies now in hand, Kaiser is preparing to launch the next phase of its systematic exploration push at Maldon. A close-spaced helicopter-based magnetic survey is scheduled for the first week of August.

The company says combining the new soil geochemistry with the detailed geophysical data will provide a powerful tool for refining its geological model and prioritising drill targets. Additionally, the permitting of its highest-priority drill targets is already underway.

With its Henty mine in Tasmania churning out cash, Kaiser appears to be in the enviable position of being able to fund aggressive exploration paid for by production. The company is in the equally enviable position of having drill targets queued up over a 4.4km trend in a goldfield that was once home to 28 g/t ounces.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au