Everest Metals Lifts Mt Dimer Confidence as 32% of Gold Now Firmly Proven
Key Takeaways
- Mt Dimer now holds 13,780 oz of Measured and Indicated gold, 32% of the 43,000 oz total, versus a fully Inferred maiden estimate in 2021.
- Drilling at roughly 12.5 m x 6 m spacing, against 50 m x 25 m historically, underpins the upgrade in the upper ~100 m where mining is underway.
- A 142,000 t stockpile at 1.33 g/t Au, holding 6,072 oz, is ready for the first toll-processing campaign, though no dates have been disclosed.
- Metallurgical recoveries of 93% to 98% across oxide, transitional and fresh ore support the toll-treatment pathway, funded by MEGA and Bain under the Right to Mine Agreement.
- Total contained gold is down from 48,545 oz in 2021, and 29,198 oz of Inferred material still needs deeper drilling to lift confidence.
Mt Dimer Mineral Resource Estimate upgrade delivers first Measured and Indicated Resources
Most resource updates tell you what a company hopes is in the ground. This one tells you what has been confirmed where mining is already underway. Everest Metals Corporation (ASX: EMC) announced on 8 October 2026 an updated JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its 100%-owned Mt Dimer Taipan Gold Project in Western Australia, with an effective date of 7 October 2026.
The updated MRE totals 975,000 t at 1.37 g/t Au for 43,000 oz of gold at a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off grade. Measured and Indicated Resources account for 13,780 oz, or 32% of contained gold, compared with an entirely Inferred maiden estimate in 2021.
Open-pit mining has been underway at Mt Dimer since January 2026 under the Right to Mine Agreement with MEGA Resources Pty Ltd (MEGA) and Bain Global Resources (Bain). Key points from the update include:
- More than 7,200 m of recent drilling, together with observations from mining, supports the confidence upgrade
- 142,000 t mined and stockpiled ahead of planned toll processing, grading 1.33 g/t Au for an estimated 6,072 oz
- Mineralisation remains open at depth
Mark Caruso, Executive Chairman and CEO, said the update reflects where the project stands today:
Mark Caruso, Executive Chairman and CEO
“…confidence now sits where we are mining. The Measured and Indicated Resources are concentrated in the upper part of the deposit, and the material already on the ROM pad has been estimated as a resource ahead of our first toll-processing campaign…”
Toll processing means paying a third-party plant to process your ore, rather than building your own. The company’s stated focus is turning stockpiled material into cash flow through that route.
When big ASX news breaks, our subscribers know first
Resource breakdown by category
The estimate comprises an in-situ Mineral Resource of 833,000 t at 1.38 g/t Au for 36,906 oz within Mining Lease M77/515, plus a separately reported Indicated Stockpile Mineral Resource of 142,000 t at 1.33 g/t Au for 6,072 oz. Of the total Measured and Indicated gold, 7,708 oz remain in-situ and 6,072 oz are in the stockpile.
| Category | Tonnes | Au Grade (g/t) | Au Content (oz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-situ Measured | 118,000 | 1.70 | 6,449 |
| In-situ Indicated | 27,000 | 1.45 | 1,259 |
| In-situ Inferred | 688,000 | 1.32 | 29,198 |
| Stockpile Indicated | 142,000 | 1.33 | 6,072 |
| Total Mineral Resources | 975,000 | 1.37 | 42,978 |
The stockpile inventory is reported separately and is not a Mineral Resource classification category. All tabulated data have been rounded.
The announcement’s overview paragraph cites 970,000 t, while the table and headline cite 975,000 t. This article uses the table total.
How the 2021 estimate compares
The 2021 maiden Inferred estimate was 722 kt at 2.10 g/t Au for 48,545 oz of gold, using a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off, and also reported silver. Contained gold is now lower, and silver is no longer reported.
The cut-off has moved from 1.0 g/t to 0.5 g/t. Silver is excluded because of the lower data density and spatial coverage of silver assay data relative to gold, which means lower confidence in a silver estimate.
Caruso said the company had been open about where the estimate has changed, “because shareholders should judge Mt Dimer on numbers that reflect real mining conditions.” For you as an investor, that means the headline ounces are lower than 2021, but a larger share now sits in higher-confidence categories.
What does a Measured and Indicated upgrade mean for investors?
JORC categories describe how confident geologists are in an estimate. Inferred is the lowest confidence, Indicated is higher, and Measured is highest, based on factors such as drill spacing and the amount of data supporting each block.
Higher confidence matters because it gives mine planning a firmer base. Here, only the Measured and Indicated categories are firsts for the project, as the 2021 estimate was entirely Inferred.
The announcement points to four supports for the upgrade:
- Drill spacing reduced to approximately 12.5 m along strike and 6 m across strike in the main part of the orebody, compared with an average of 50 m × 25 m historically
- 7,244 m of RC (reverse circulation) drilling across 216 holes between November 2025 and May 2026
- Observations from mining, combined with Ordinary Kriging and Dynamic Anisotropy (a statistical method that lets the estimate follow changes in vein orientation)
- Stockpile tonnage estimated from a post-mining survey, with grade supported by closely spaced grade-control drilling
Confidence in the geological interpretation is highest in the upper approximately 100 m of the deposit, where drilling density is greatest and where mining is occurring. It decreases below that depth as drill spacing widens.
Inferred material still makes up the majority of ounces at 29,198 oz. That is the portion where further drilling could lift confidence, and the announcement notes additional deeper drilling would improve confidence in those areas.
Processing pathway and economics
Metallurgical testwork by Bureau Veritas Minerals and JT Metallurgical Services in 2026 returned the following recoveries:
- 95% for oxide material
- 98% for fresh material
- 93% for transitional material
Low sulphide and organic carbon levels indicate preg-robbing, where natural carbon in ore captures dissolved gold, is unlikely to be a factor.
The proposed processing strategy is based on toll treatment at existing third-party facilities. MEGA has two campaign-based arrangements: one with Forrestania Resources through either the Lake Johnston or Edna May facility, and a 200,000 t agreement with Medallion Metals (ASX: MM8) at its Cosmic Bay facility. Both are subject to their commercial and operational conditions.
Under the Right to Mine Agreement, MEGA and Bain provide development and working capital funding. Caruso described the toll-processing approach as a “non-dilutive arrangement” with MEGA.
Reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction (RPEEE) were assessed through pit optimisation using a gold price of $6,000 per ounce. The announcement provides no revenue or cash flow forecasts.
On permitting, no material environmental or tenure impediments are known. The tenement is valid until 27 May 2034, and mining approvals are in place.
The next major ASX story will hit our subscribers first
Next steps: stockpile to cash flow and drilling at depth
The first toll-processing campaign is the next operational milestone. Timing is subject to final scheduling, haulage logistics and processing-facility availability, and the announcement discloses no dates.
Additional resource drilling is planned. Mineralisation has been delineated over a strike length of approximately 720 m and modelled to a depth exceeding approximately 180 m, and it remains open at depth.
For you, the takeaway is practical. Mt Dimer now has a resource built on closer drilling and real mining exposure, with a stockpile awaiting processing. The next evidence will be the first toll-processing campaign and whether deeper drilling can lift more of the Inferred ounces into higher-confidence categories.
Don’t Miss the Next ASX Gold Breakout
Get FREE ASX gold news delivered to your inbox within minutes of release, with in-depth analysis and the full announcement included. Join 30,000+ investors already staying ahead of the market. Click the “Free Alerts” button at Big News Blast and receive the next gold alert the moment it breaks.