Drilling at our Comstock Project near St Arnaud has turned up visible gold in a new spot: the Walkers Zone structures, intersected in hole NED035 as shallow as 18 metres below the current pit surface. This is the first time we've seen visible gold in these secondary structures, known as the Walkers Shear, which branch off the main Comstock line.

Two separate occurrences were found, one at 21.7 metres down hole and another at 61.2 metres, both hosted in quartz veining. Visible gold is a promising sign, but it's not a substitute for laboratory analysis, and assay results confirming actual grades are expected in 3 to 5 weeks. We'll update the market when those come through.

This matters because it adds weight to our plan for near-term, small-scale first production at Comstock. The licensing process is underway, and we already have a binding toll milling agreement in place with the Wedderburn Gold Mill. Finding gold this shallow, and within the pit we've earmarked for that first production, reinforces our confidence in the site, which sits in a goldfield with a history of producing 400koz of gold at 15g/t within 2km of this drill rig.

It's worth remembering this is exploration and infill drilling, not a resource upgrade in itself. Any move toward production still depends on further drilling results, metallurgical and other technical work, and the usual regulatory steps, none of which are guaranteed outcomes.

Elsewhere, drilling also continues at our Irvine Project near Stawell, testing depth extensions on the high-grade Resolution Lode.

If you have questions about this announcement, we'd welcome you raising them through the question box on this page.