Forrestania Resources Grows British Hill Gold Resource 21% to 212,400oz
Key Takeaways
- Forrestania Resources has upgraded the British Hill Mineral Resource Estimate by 21% to 4.12Mt @ 1.60g/t Au for 212,400oz Au, delivered just one month after the previous estimate.
- Indicated Resources — the higher-confidence JORC category required for pre-feasibility studies and project financing — surged 37% to 138,100oz Au, now comprising more than 50% of total contained gold.
- The upgrade was driven by 15 additional RC holes totalling 3,685m from the current 2026 drilling programme, with three RC rigs and one diamond rig still active in the field.
- Preliminary metallurgical test work shows gold recoveries of 83.9%–91.4%, with British Hill sitting 145km by road from the Edna May processing facility — a haul route already assessed in project evaluation.
- British Hill sits within the Forrestania Greenstone Belt, the same structural corridor hosting the historic Bounty Gold Mine with a resource exceeding 1Moz, supporting broader prospectivity across the tenement package.
British Hill resource grows 21% to 212,400oz Au as Indicated category surges 37%
Forrestania Resources (ASX: FRS) has announced an updated JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its British Hill Deposit, now standing at 4.12Mt @ 1.60g/t Au for 212,400oz Au at a 0.5g/t cut-off. The upgrade represents a 21% increase in total gold ounces, driven by the inclusion of results from 15 additional Reverse Circulation (RC) holes totalling 3,685m from the current drilling programme.
Critically, the update was released just one month after the previous estimate, signalling a high-velocity drilling programme delivering consistent results. Three RC rigs and one diamond rig remain active in the field, focused on extending mineralisation along strike and at depth.
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Q1 FY27 MRE highlights at a glance
- Total MRE: 4.12Mt @ 1.60g/t Au for 212,400oz Au (at 0.5g/t Au cut-off)
- Indicated: 2.65Mt @ 1.62g/t Au for 138,100oz Au — now representing more than 50% of total contained gold ounces
- Inferred: 1.47Mt @ 1.57g/t Au for 74,300oz Au
- Overall MRE growth: 21% from the previous estimate
- Indicated category growth: 37% increase in higher-confidence Indicated Resources
- Holes informing this update: 15 additional RC holes from the current 2026 drilling programme
Chairman David Geraghty
“This updated Mineral Resource Estimate, released just one month after the previous estimate, represents another important milestone in the growth of the British Hill Mineral Resource. This update not only materially expands the gold inventory at British Hill but also delivers a significant increase in higher-confidence Indicated Mineral Resources, which now comprise more than half of the total contained gold ounces.”
Inside the British Hill deposit — what the numbers mean for investors
Understanding JORC resource categories
When a gold deposit is classified under the JORC Code — the Australasian standard for reporting mineral resources — it is divided into categories based on how well the mineralisation is understood. Inferred Resources carry the lowest confidence: the geology is interpreted but drill spacing is wide enough that uncertainty remains. Indicated Resources require tighter drilling and better data quality, giving geologists reasonable confidence in the grade and tonnage estimates.
Think of it this way: Inferred is a well-informed estimate, while Indicated is something closer to a verified measurement. That distinction matters because Indicated Resources can underpin pre-feasibility studies and support project financing conversations in ways that Inferred Resources typically cannot.
The shift at British Hill is therefore meaningful. With Indicated Resources now representing more than 50% of total contained gold ounces, the project has crossed a threshold that de-risks the resource base and moves it closer to the kind of confidence level required for serious development planning.
The resource breakdown in detail
| Category | Cut-off (g/t Au) | Tonnes | Grade (g/t Au) | Gold Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicated | 0.5 | 2,650,000 | 1.62 | 138,100oz |
| Inferred | 0.5 | 1,470,000 | 1.57 | 74,300oz |
| Total | 0.5 | 4,120,000 | 1.60 | 212,400oz |
Numbers have been rounded. Source: JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, September 2026.
The pit optimisation underpinning the Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Economic Extraction assessment applied a gold price of A$6,000/oz.
Project fundamentals support the path to production
Metallurgy and logistics
Preliminary metallurgical test work indicates British Hill mineralisation is amenable to conventional gravity recovery followed by cyanide leaching and CIL/CIP processing. Gold recoveries ranged from 83.9% to 88.7% for one composite sample and 90.1% to 91.4% for the second, with gravity-recoverable gold accounting for approximately 40% to 42% of total gold — supporting a gravity circuit ahead of conventional processing, which is standard for Western Australian gold operations.
On logistics, British Hill sits approximately 145km by road from the Edna May processing facility. Existing regional road infrastructure provides potential access, and no material access constraints have been identified from desktop reviews completed to date.
Active drilling programme drives continued resource growth
Forrestania has drilled a total of 39 holes during 2026 for 10,392.5 metres to date. Three RC rigs and one diamond rig remain in the field, targeting both strike and down-dip extensions of the mineralised system.
The company’s stated priorities for the programme ahead are:
- Convert Inferred Resources to Indicated via infill drilling
- Extend mineralisation along strike and at depth
- Secure a milling option for ore treatment
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Why this milestone matters for FRS investors
The pace of resource growth stands out. A 21% MRE upgrade delivered within one month of the previous estimate reflects a high-activity drilling programme producing consistent, positive results — not an isolated intercept or a single lucky hole.
The quality of that growth is arguably the more important metric. The 37% surge in Indicated ounces, which now account for more than half of total contained gold, moves British Hill closer to the confidence levels typically required for pre-feasibility studies and project financing. Resource growth in the higher-confidence category is what transforms an exploration asset into a development-stage project.
Geologically, British Hill sits within the Forrestania Greenstone Belt, the southern extension of the Southern Cross Greenstone Belt, which hosts the historic Bounty Gold Mine with a resource of more than 1Moz. That structural context supports prospectivity across the broader Forrestania Hub.
British Hill is not the only active front within the Forrestania portfolio; high-grade gold results at Ada Ann point to a broader mineralised system across the tenement package.
At the strategic level, FRS is building towards two complementary processing hubs at Edna May and Lake Johnston. British Hill feeds directly into that regional consolidation thesis, with the 145km haul route to Edna May already assessed as part of ongoing project evaluation. The company has not indicated that a production decision is imminent, and further studies and regulatory approvals would be required before any development could proceed.
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