Shares in gold project developer Minerals 260 Ltd (ASX: MI6) hit a record high on Tuesday after the company shed new light on the size of its Western Australian gold project this week.
The stock has more than quadrupled over the past year, hitting 43.5 cents in early trade on Tuesday, up from a 12-month low of just 10 cents, with the shares trading at low levels until about the start of September.
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Project shaping up well
The company published an updated minerals resource for its BullaBulling gold project, 25km west of Koolgardie in WA, on Monday, with the amount of contained gold doubling to 4.5 million ounces.
The company said the mineral resource estimate of 4.5 million ounces was at a grade of 1 gram per tonne of ore, and had more than doubled from the previous estimate of 2.2 million ounces.
The company also said exploration drilling had confirmed extensions of the mineral resources at depth across four deposits, "supporting an increased depth of about 100m in some areas of the pit shell''.
The mineral resource was calculated using a gold price of $4500 per ounce of gold and a cut-off grade of 0.4 grams per tonne.
The company said it would continue drilling at the project "to target mineralisation at depth and along strike with a further mineral resource estimate planned in calendar year 2026''.
More growth targeted
Minerals 260 Managing Director Luke McFadyen said the upgrade was pleasing.
This is an exceptional outcome for the company and our shareholders, just seven months after acquiring BullaBulling. When we acquired the asset, we believed there was a significant opportunity to grow the mineral resource estimate through an aggressive drilling campaign and improving the understanding of the geology. By doing this we have been able to add 2.2 million ounces and validate the previous mineral resource estimate, doubling the mineral resource estimate to 4.5 million ounces and establishing Bullabulling as one of the leading gold projects in Australia.
Mr McFadyen said the company had a pre-feasibility study underway, which was on track for completion next year.
The company had also recently employed new Chief Operating and Development Officers, and the engagement of an engineering contractor was "imminent'', he said.
Mr McFayden added:
Minerals 260 is building significant momentum towards its goal of becoming a major gold producer, targeting first production in late-2028.
In more positive news for the company, Bell Potter recently issued a research note putting a speculative target price of 57 cents on the shares.
Minerals 260 was valued at $892.5 million at the close of trade on Monday.
