Forrestania Eyes Mid-December First Ore at Edna May, Ahead of 2026 Year End
Key Takeaways
- Forrestania is targeting first ore at Edna May in mid-December 2026, bringing gold production forward into calendar 2026 ahead of Lake Johnston's early 2027 start.
- The mid-December date is explicitly subject to the timely receipt and installation of final equipment components, so the schedule is a target, not a guarantee.
- Mill liners are due on site in the final week of November 2026 and the first Tailings Storage Facility cell is due in late November, the two items Executive Chairman David Geraghty says have advanced materially.
- Lake Johnston is progressing in parallel, with hot commissioning of its Gold Elution Circuit underway ahead of early 2027 commissioning and production.
- The update contains no tonnage, grade, revenue, cost or funding figures, so the August 2026 $23M capital raise remains the only funding backdrop.
Forrestania Resources targets mid-December 2026 first ore at Edna May
Forrestania Resources (ASX: FRS) has accelerated its Edna May gold production timeline, with first ore to be processed in mid-December 2026. That date is subject to the timely expected receipt and installation of final equipment components.
The operational update, dated 16 October 2026, covers both the Edna May Processing Facility and the Lake Johnston Processing Facility. If the schedule holds, production at Edna May would begin before the end of calendar 2026, ahead of the early 2027 start planned for Lake Johnston.
The announcement does not disclose tonnage, grade, gold price, revenue, funding or cost figures. What it does offer is a clear list of physical milestones, and those are what you can track.
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What milestones has Edna May achieved?
The company listed several milestones achieved since its previous project update. Most relate to the equipment and infrastructure that must be in place before the plant can restart.
Critical-path items advancing
A critical-path item is a task that must finish before the next stage can begin, so delays to these items push back the whole timeline. The update highlighted four at Edna May:
- Mill liner shipment is underway, with liners scheduled to arrive on site during the final week of November 2026
- The first cell of the Tailings Storage Facility is progressing toward completion in late November
- Final critical-path maintenance and refurbishment work is progressing in preparation for the Edna May restart
- Mobilisation of mining contractor equipment to Tycho and Johnson Range is underway
Mill liners are the protective lining inside the grinding mill. A tailings storage facility holds the waste material left after gold is extracted.
Timeline at a glance
The table below sets out only the timings stated in the announcement.
| Milestone | Status | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Edna May mill liners arrive on site | Shipment underway | Final week of November 2026 |
| Tailings Storage Facility first cell | Progressing toward completion | Late November |
| Edna May first ore processed | Subject to timely expected receipt and installation of final equipment components | Mid-December 2026 |
| Lake Johnston commissioning and production | Refurbishment and procurement continuing | Early 2027 |
The Executive Chairman pointed to the two schedule items at the top of that table as the ones that moved most.
David Geraghty, Executive Chairman
“The tailings lift and mill liner delivery schedules have both advanced materially, reducing project execution risk and creating a credible pathway to first gold production before the end of 2026.”
For you as an investor, this matters because the mill liners and the tailings cell are the items the company singled out as having advanced. Progress on them supports the near-term production story, though the mid-December date still depends on final equipment arriving and being installed.
What does a “production ready” processing hub mean for investors?
A processing plant turns mined rock into gold. It crushes the ore, grinds it in a mill, then uses a leaching process to recover the gold.
Restarting existing infrastructure is typically quicker than building a plant from scratch, which is the logic behind Mr Geraghty’s comment. He said the opportunity to leverage existing infrastructure at Edna May and bring forward gold production “has become increasingly compelling.” He added that Forrestania seeks to take advantage of Edna May’s “‘production ready’ status.”
The company also describes a hub-and-spoke strategy. That means multiple deposits sit within haulage distance of a central plant, so the plant can be fed from several ore sources. At Edna May, the company names Tycho, Johnson Range and surrounding project areas as ore sources.
Where is Lake Johnston up to ahead of early 2027 production?
Lake Johnston is running in parallel. Refurbishment and procurement activities continue ahead of commissioning and production commencement in early 2027, and hot commissioning of the Lake Johnston Gold Elution Circuit is underway. Hot commissioning means testing the circuit with live process conditions rather than in a dry run.
The announcement’s images show further work at the site:
- Fabrication of a process water tank in Henderson, WA
- Screen tower refurbishment
- Concrete works in the CIL (carbon-in-leach) tank area
- A motor control centre assembly and a locally procured conveyor in transit
Mr Geraghty said that Lake Johnston “continues to make excellent progress.” The company describes Lake Johnston as a second strategic processing hub “capable of supporting future production growth and regional consolidation.”
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What to watch next
The announcement points to four near-term markers:
- Arrival of the Edna May mill liners during the final week of November 2026
- Completion of the first cell of the Tailings Storage Facility in late November
- First ore processed at Edna May in mid-December 2026, subject to final equipment components
- Lake Johnston commissioning and production commencement in early 2027
No funding, cost or production guidance figures were provided in this update, so those remain open questions.
The company’s $23M capital raise in August 2026 was framed around accelerating gold production across its two hubs, which is the funding backdrop to the equipment and refurbishment work now being tracked.
Forrestania describes itself as an Australian gold development and emerging production company focused on building a Western Australian gold business through two strategic processing hubs at Edna May and Lake Johnston.
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