Forrestania Resources Grows the Ladies Gold Resource with 43% M+I Uplift
Key Takeaways
- The combined Lady Ada and Lady Magdalene JORC Mineral Resource now stands at 4.89Mt @ 1.82g/t Au for 285,700oz Au, with Measured and Indicated ounces up 43% since the May 2026 estimate.
- The 4% total ounce reduction reflects a more rigorous estimation methodology by Widenbar and Associates — not a deterioration in deposit quality — resulting in a substantially more reliable resource base.
- Lady Ada hosts all Measured material at a high average grade of 3.04g/t Au, while Lady Magdalene contributes the bulk of total ounces at 213,200oz across 3.54Mt.
- Historical metallurgical test work confirmed gold recoveries of 99.3% for Oxide, 97.3% for Transitional, and 97.0% for Fresh material, supporting the economic assumptions behind the resource.
- The Ladies deposits sit approximately 105km by road from the Lake Johnston processing plant, and Forrestania's $23M August 2026 capital raise was explicitly framed around accelerating gold production across the Forrestania Hub.
“The Ladies” resource grows in quality and confidence
Forrestania Resources (ASX: FRS) has released an updated JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Lady Ada and Lady Magdalene deposits, known collectively as “The Ladies,” returning a total resource of 4.89Mt @ 1.82g/t Au for 285,700oz Au at a 0.5g/t cut-off grade. The headline figure is sizeable, but the more significant result sits beneath it: Measured and Indicated ounces have increased by 43% since the MRE announced on 7 May 2026, representing a meaningful uplift in resource confidence and development readiness.
The updated estimate includes 0.16Mt @ 3.04g/t Au for 15,400oz Au in the Measured category and 1.53Mt @ 1.73g/t Au for 85,000oz Au in the Indicated category. The overall ounce count reflects a 4% decrease following re-estimation by Widenbar and Associates — a transparent consequence of applying a more rigorous estimation methodology rather than a deterioration in the deposit’s fundamentals. The tradeoff is a substantially more reliable resource base with a greater proportion of higher-confidence ounces.
Chairman David Geraghty
“This updated estimate highlights a significant uplift in Mineral Resources, providing a stronger and more reliable inventory from which to pursue future development opportunities, while preserving a substantial overall resource base of 285,700 ounces of gold.
With The Ladies located within our broader Forrestania Hub, we believe this resource will continue to play an important role in Forrestania’s strategy of establishing long-term gold production supported by multiple deposits located within haulage distance of existing processing infrastructure.”
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Breaking down the numbers by deposit
The combined MRE, derived from pit optimisation at an assumed gold price of AUD 6,000/oz and processing at the Lake Johnston plant, is summarised in Table 1 below.
| Class | Au g/t Cut-off | Tonnes | Au g/t | Au Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 0.5 | 158,000 | 3.04 | 15,400 |
| Indicated | 0.5 | 1,530,000 | 1.73 | 85,000 |
| Inferred | 0.5 | 3,200,000 | 1.80 | 185,300 |
| Total | 0.5 | 4,888,000 | 1.82 | 285,700 |
Source: Table 7, Combined Ladies AUD 6000 Pit JORC Mineral Resource September 2026. Numbers have been rounded.
Lady Ada vs Lady Magdalene — what each deposit contributes
The two deposits share the same host rock, structural setting, and style of gold mineralisation, but each plays a distinct role in the combined resource:
- Lady Ada: 1.35Mt @ 1.67g/t Au for 72,500oz Au — hosts all Measured material at a high average grade of 3.04g/t Au; the deposit was historically mined by Sons of Gwalia between December 2002 and May 2003, producing 95,865t @ 8.81g/t Au for 27,154oz
- Lady Magdalene: 3.54Mt @ 1.87g/t Au for 213,200oz Au — the larger deposit by both tonnage and total ounces, with Inferred material carrying a strong average grade of 1.90g/t Au
- Both deposits are hosted within an Archaean quartz dolerite unit and share the same structural controls, meaning metallurgical performance observed at Lady Ada is expected to apply to Lady Magdalene
What a JORC Mineral Resource Estimate means for investors
A JORC Mineral Resource Estimate is a formal, code-compliant assessment of the quantity and grade of mineralisation in the ground, prepared by an independent Competent Person. The JORC Code — the Australasian standard for resource reporting — classifies resources into three categories based on the level of geological confidence: Inferred, Indicated, and Measured.
Inferred is the lowest-confidence category, based on limited data and geological inference. Indicated carries a higher degree of confidence, supported by adequate drilling density and geological understanding. Measured is the highest-confidence category, requiring very close drill spacing and a thorough understanding of the deposit’s continuity.
Why the Measured and Indicated upgrade is the key metric to watch
The 43% increase in Measured and Indicated ounces matters for the following reasons:
- Measured and Indicated resources can underpin feasibility studies and eventual mine planning — Inferred resources generally cannot be used for these purposes
- A 43% increase in M+I ounces means a substantially larger portion of The Ladies resource is now de-risked and closer to development-ready status
- The estimate was generated using Ordinary Kriging methodology in Micromine 2026.5 software, informed by a September 2026 LiDAR survey and a total of 624 drill holes covering 45,715.2 metres — providing strong geological confidence across the modelled domains
- Historical metallurgical test work (Ammtec, 2002) returned high gold recoveries of 99.3% for Oxide, 97.3% for Transitional, and 97.0% for Fresh material, supporting the economic assumptions underpinning the resource
Higher-confidence resources translate more directly into potential mine economics. When a greater share of the ounce base is classified as Measured or Indicated, the resource carries more weight in development studies, partnership discussions, and financing conversations.
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Strategic context — The Ladies within the Forrestania Hub
The Ladies deposits sit on granted Mining Lease M77/1310, approximately 155km south-southeast of Southern Cross in the Yilgarn Mineral Field of Western Australia. Their location within the broader Forrestania Hub is central to FRS’s dual-hub development strategy, anchored by processing infrastructure at Edna May and Lake Johnston.
Key strategic considerations from the announcement include:
- Pit optimisation was conducted assuming processing at the Lake Johnston plant, located approximately 105km by road from the deposits, at a gold price assumption of AUD 6,000/oz
- Metallurgical test work commissioned by Sons of Gwalia and carried out by Ammtec confirms The Ladies is a free-milling deposit with conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) amenability — a processing method that uses activated carbon to extract dissolved gold — with recoveries exceeding 90% across all material types
- Future drilling priorities include infill drilling and metallurgical and geotechnical studies, with the aim of converting Inferred Resources to Indicated and supporting formal mining studies
Chairman Geraghty’s comments made clear that The Ladies are expected to play an important role in Forrestania’s strategy of establishing long-term gold production supported by multiple deposits within haulage distance of existing processing infrastructure.
Forrestania Resources’ $23M capital raise, completed in August 2026, was framed explicitly around accelerating gold production across the Forrestania Hub, providing the funding context within which this resource upgrade sits.
Litigation disclosure: The Lady Ada and Lady Magdalene deposits are subject to a legal dispute with Classic Minerals Limited (proceedings PER CIV 1381/2025 in the Supreme Court of Western Australia). Forrestania asserts its position and title in relation to these matters. The announcement does not speculate on the outcome of the proceedings.
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