Vertex Minerals Sharpens Reward Grade to 21g/t as Underground Drilling Targets Growth
Key Takeaways
- The updated Reward Gold Mine Mineral Resource Estimate stands at 274,000 tonnes at 16.68 g/t Au for 146,900 ounces, a 35% reduction in contained ounces from the June 2023 estimate of 225,200 ounces.
- The ounce reduction is driven by two technical factors — application of a 200 g/t Au top-cut to nuggety high-grade samples and removal of lodes that no longer meet JORC economic extraction criteria — not by any deterioration in the underlying gold endowment.
- Indicated grade has risen 36% from 15.54 g/t Au to 21.17 g/t Au, reflecting improved geological confidence from direct underground observation rather than surface drilling alone.
- Three priority drill targets have been defined — depth extensions below the current resource, Hawkins Hill remnant blocks, and the Fosters corridor 400 metres to the south — with underground diamond drilling planned to commence Q1 2027.
- Bathurst Regional Council approved 24-hour underground operations on 20 August 2026, expanding available working hours from approximately 9 to up to 22 hours per day and enabling a dedicated underground drill team without displacing ore production.
Reward resource refined to 146,900oz at 16.68 g/t Au as geological confidence rises
Vertex Minerals (ASX: VTX) has completed an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Reward Gold Mine at its 100%-owned Hill End Gold Project in New South Wales, prepared by independent consultants HGS Australia under the JORC Code (2012). This amended announcement restates the figures released on 2 September 2026 to satisfy ASX Listing Rule 5.8.1 compliance requirements; the MRE figures are unchanged.
The headline result is 274,000 tonnes at 16.68 g/t Au for 146,900 ounces at a 4.0 g/t Au lower cut-off. The overall resource grade is effectively unchanged from the June 2023 estimate of 16.72 g/t Au, confirming the high-grade character of the deposit.
Total contained ounces have decreased by 35% from the 225,200 ounces reported in June 2023. That reduction is attributable to two specific technical factors, each explained below, rather than any deterioration in the underlying gold endowment of the Hill End field. The updated resource breaks down as follows:
- Indicated: 80,000t at 21.17 g/t Au for 54,700oz
- Inferred: 194,000t at 14.76 g/t Au for 92,200oz
- Total: 274,000t at 16.68 g/t Au for 146,900oz
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A smaller, sharper resource — what changed and why it matters
The ounce reduction has two distinct causes, and understanding them is important for assessing what the revised model actually tells you.
Driver 1 — top-cut application. Gold at Reward occurs as coarse, nuggety free gold within quartz veins. In systems like this, a small number of extreme high-grade samples can disproportionately inflate a resource estimate if left uncapped. The Competent Person applied a 200 g/t Au top-cut to extreme outlier assays as a conservative reporting choice. Reported on an uncut basis, the estimate would be 276,000 tonnes at 21.57 g/t Au for 192,000 ounces. The difference between the cut and uncut figures illustrates the material influence of a small number of very high-grade samples; the company has elected to report the more conservative top-cut estimate.
Driver 2 — lode re-interpretation. Physical underground access since 2023 has allowed the geological team to directly observe the mineralised structures. Several lodes interpreted in 2023 have been shown to be narrower, shorter, or less continuous than originally modelled. Those that no longer meet the JORC Code requirement for reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction have been removed from the estimate.
The key positive from this tighter model is the step-change in Indicated grade. The Indicated grade has risen 36% from 15.54 g/t Au to 21.17 g/t Au, and the proportion of Indicated ounces has risen from 31% to 37%. That reflects improved geological confidence, not degraded quality. Critically, there is no material change to the current mine plan or underground development schedule; the lodes presently being developed and stoped are unaffected.
MRE comparison — June 2023 vs August 2026
| Classification | June 2023 | August 2026 | Change | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicated (oz) | 70,500 | 54,700 | –15,800 | –22% |
| Inferred (oz) | 154,700 | 92,200 | –62,500 | –40% |
| Total (oz) | 225,200 | 146,900 | –78,300 | –35% |
| Indicated grade (g/t Au) | 15.54 | 21.17 | +5.63 | +36% |
| Total grade (g/t Au) | 16.72 | 16.68 | –0.04 | 0% |
Both estimates are reported at a 4.0 g/t Au lower cut-off, making them directly comparable.
What the updated model tells us about high-grade underground — and where drilling goes next
When a company physically mines and processes ore, it can compare the actual tonnes and grade delivered to the mill against what the resource model predicted. This reconciliation process is a more direct test of a model than drilling alone, because it measures predictions against real production rather than further estimation. Where the two diverge, it identifies precisely which lodes and areas of the model are underperforming — information that cannot be obtained from surface drilling.
The improved structural framework developed through this process, including the identification of controlling reverse-fault and vein-intersection structures, now provides a predictive basis for targeting future underground drilling. Three priority target areas have been defined:
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Depth extensions — The Reward lodes remain open at depth. Historic mining across the Hill End field rarely extended below the water table at approximately 60 feet (less than 20 metres), and only a limited portion of the strike has been drilled to any significant depth. The improved structural model provides, for the first time, a predictive framework for where lodes are expected to project below the currently modelled resource limits.
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Hawkins Hill remnants — The historic Hawkins Hill mine sits directly above the Reward workings and is among the highest-grade gold mines recorded in Australia. The upper levels of the Vertex workings provide access to remnant material in and around those historic stopes — blocks left behind by nineteenth-century mining methods that were unable to recover them selectively. The structural work completed for this estimate improves the company’s ability to locate those remnants from underground drill platforms. Historic production figures for Hawkins Hill are not reported as a Mineral Resource or Exploration Target under the JORC Code and are not necessarily indicative of results at Reward.
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Fosters — down-strike to the south — Fosters lies approximately 400 metres south of the Reward Gold Mine on the same structural corridor. The existing Fosters adit and development drive are already in place, and the target sits only a few hundred metres down strike from the Hill End gravity gold plant.
Fosters Exploration Target — the prize down strike
The Fosters Exploration Target, previously reported on 29 August 2023 and unchanged by this MRE update, is estimated as follows:
- Lower range: 524,000t at 12.5 g/t Au for 211,000oz
- Upper range: 524,000t at 19.0 g/t Au for 321,000oz
Important note: The potential quantity and grade of an Exploration Target is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource at Fosters, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource. The Exploration Target is not reported as part of any Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve estimate.
No new approvals are required to drill Fosters. Existing Mining Licences, Development Consent, and the Fosters adit and development drive are already in place.
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Underground drilling planned to commence Q1 2027
Underground diamond drilling is planned to commence in the first quarter of 2027. A key operational enabler is the approval for 24-hour underground operations granted by Bathurst Regional Council on 20 August 2026, which increases available working hours from approximately 9 hours per day to up to 22 hours per day. That additional capacity allows the company to establish a dedicated underground drill team and cut dedicated drill cuddies and platforms without displacing ore development from the production schedule.
Reward Gold Mine financing arrangements underpin the production development schedule that the updated resource model now supports, with the structural confidence gained from underground access feeding directly into forward planning.
Drilling from underground platforms is materially more effective than surface drilling at Reward. Holes are shorter, better oriented to the steeply dipping lodes, and can be positioned close to the depth extension, Hawkins Hill remnant, and Fosters corridor targets.
The Reward resource sits within a broader project. The total Hill End & Hargraves Project MRE stands at 4,069,000 tonnes at 3.1 g/t Au for 404,000 ounces (Indicated plus Inferred), with Reward’s high-grade underground resource forming a concentrated, higher-confidence component of that larger footprint.
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