Legacy Minerals Drills Untested Gold-Silver Targets at Mt Carrington Mascotte
Legacy Minerals Holdings (ASX: LGM) has announced a substantial expansion of the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at its Mt Carrington Epithermal Gold-Silver Project in New South Wales. The Legacy Minerals Mt Carrington resource upgrade to 1.6 million ounces gold equivalent, prepared by independent consultants WSP Australia, confirms 47.9 million tonnes containing 1.6 million ounces of gold-equivalent (AuEq), including 714,000 ounces of gold and 35 million ounces of silver, alongside copper, zinc, and lead credits.
The company reports that since Legacy acquired the project, total tonnage has grown by 151%, while the Indicated Resource component — the higher-confidence portion of the estimate — has increased by 69% since the 2025 MRE alone. That increase in Indicated Resources stands out as one of the more strategically significant elements of this announcement, as it is expected to underpin the company's ability to progress a more ambitious Scoping Study.
"The updated MRE now contains 1.6 million ounces of gold-equivalent resources, including 714,000 ounces of gold and 35 million ounces of silver, plus substantial copper, lead and zinc. Importantly, we have grown the Indicated component of the MRE by nearly 70%, significantly lifting confidence in the deposits that will underpin our future development studies," said Christopher Byrne, CEO and Managing Director of Legacy Minerals.
According to the announcement, the scale of growth at Mt Carrington since Legacy's acquisition is best illustrated by comparing the MRE across reporting periods.
| Metric | Pre-Acquisition (JORC 2004/2012) | 2025 MRE (Mining Plus) | 2026 MRE (WSP) | Change vs 2025 | Change Since Acquisition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes (kt) | 19,140 | 34,396 | 47,949 | +39% | +151% |
| Gold (koz Au) | 341.0 | 652.5 | 714.3 | +9% | +109% |
| Silver (koz Ag) | 23,247 | 24,294 | 34,991 | +44% | +51% |
Copper and zinc also recorded strong growth, with copper reported up 105% and zinc up 12% compared to the 2025 MRE. Furthermore, the company attributes these base metal credit increases to new copper and silver domains identified and modelled during this latest estimation cycle.
Mt Carrington is described in the announcement as a multi-deposit system comprising two differentiated deposit groups — gold-rich and silver-rich — each contributing to the total resource.
| Deposit Group | Tonnes (Mt) | AuEq Grade (g/t) | Gold (koz) | Silver (Moz) | Zn|Cu|Pb (kt) | AuEq (koz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold-rich deposits | 28.8 | 0.92 | 565.9 | 3.8 | 122|38|21 | 856 |
| Silver-rich deposits | 19.1 | 1.16 | 148.6 | 31.2 | 42|2|16 | 714 |
| Total | 47.9 | 1.02 | 714 | 35 | 164|40|37 | 1,570 |
According to the announcement, the silver-rich deposits carry a higher AuEq grade at 1.16 g/t, reflecting the substantial silver endowment across deposits including White Rock, Lady Hampden and Silver King. The gold-rich group, encompassing Strauss, Kylo, Red Rock, Guy Bell, Carrington and the newly included Gladstone, contributes the majority of contained gold ounces.
The overall resource also contains a high-grade component, reported as:
This high-grade subset is considered relevant for mine planning purposes, potentially offering selective mining scenarios with stronger per-tonne economics.
Under the JORC Code (2012 Edition), the Australian standard for reporting mineral resources, resources are classified into three categories based on geological confidence: Inferred, Indicated and Measured. Inferred Resources carry the lowest confidence, typically supported by wider-spaced drilling and less geological data. Indicated Resources sit one step higher, requiring closer drill spacing — generally 25m x 25m for this style of deposit — along with a higher degree of geological continuity and data integrity.
Only Indicated and Measured Resources can be used to underpin Ore Reserves and detailed economic studies such as Pre-Feasibility Studies and Feasibility Studies. A resource weighted heavily toward Inferred material provides a less secure foundation for development planning. When the Indicated proportion grows substantially — as reported here, from 10.1 Mt to 19.3 Mt — the company gains a firmer platform from which to scale up studies and production targets.
According to the announcement, the 69% increase in Indicated Resources provides Legacy with a stronger basis for its planned optimised Scoping Study, which the company intends to assess at a larger scale than the May 2026 study that was underpinned by 10.1 Mt processed at 1 Mtpa.
| Resource Classification | Tonnes (Mt) | AuEq Grade (g/t) | AuEq (koz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicated | 19.3 | 1.22 | 760 |
| Inferred | 28.6 | 0.88 | 809 |
| Total | 47.9 | 1.02 | 1,570 |
The company's announcement attributes the uplift in this MRE to a combination of factors rather than any single driver:
One of the structural features highlighted in the announcement is the shallow, near-surface nature of the mineralisation at Mt Carrington. All Mineral Resources are constrained within optimised open-pit shells, with mineralisation broadly outcropping at surface across the project. According to the company, this geometry supports:
The company reports that every deposit in the system remains open along strike and at depth, with high-grade intercepts existing at the edges of the current Resource boundaries that have not been systematically followed up. Notable open-ended intercepts cited in the announcement include:
The announcement also references intercepts outside the current Resource boundaries pointing to potential discovery upside at the Mascotte and Battery Prospects, where maiden drilling has returned results including 40m at 1.0 g/t Au from 151m (including 9m at 2.7 g/t Au) at Mascotte.
According to the announcement, Legacy has outlined a strategic pathway from this updated MRE, structured around three parallel workstreams:
The near-term corporate catalyst identified in the announcement is an optimised Scoping Study, which will use the expanded and higher-confidence MRE to assess a larger potential operation. The May 2026 Scoping Study was based on 10.1 Mt processed at 1 Mtpa. With Indicated Resources now reported at 19.3 Mt, the revised study is expected to evaluate expanded plant sizing, updated mine planning, and concentrate payability scenarios.
The company has consequently stated a resource growth target of 2.0 Moz AuEq and beyond.
| Milestone | Status |
|---|---|
| Updated 1.6 Moz AuEq MRE (WSP) | Completed – July 2026 |
| Optimised Scoping Study | In progress – underpinned by new MRE |
| Discovery drilling at Emu Prospect (Au-Cu) | Active |
| Follow-up drilling at Mascotte Prospect (Au-Ag) | Planned |
| Resource target: 2.0 Moz AuEq | Stated goal – drilling underway |
Several characteristics distinguish the Mt Carrington Project within the Australian gold and silver development landscape, based on the details set out in the announcement.
At 1.6 Moz AuEq, the Legacy Minerals Mt Carrington resource upgrade to 1.6 million ounces gold equivalent positions it among the larger undeveloped gold-silver systems in Australia. The resource has more than doubled in gold ounces since Legacy's acquisition and grown 151% in total tonnage, with this growth accompanied by a rising Indicated Resource proportion.
The project contains gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead, all of which the company considers to have reasonable potential for recovery and sale. Silver alone stands at 35 Moz, while the copper credits at Kylo and Gladstone could become increasingly relevant depending on future commodity price conditions.
Near-surface mineralisation across a large caldera (approximately 150 km²) keeps the project amenable to conventional open-pit methods rather than deeper underground mining with associated higher capital requirements.
Every deposit is reported as open. High-grade intercepts at the edges of current Resource boundaries, combined with new greenfield discovery targets at Emu, Mascotte and Battery, suggest the current MRE may not represent the ceiling of what Mt Carrington could ultimately deliver.
The optimised Scoping Study, active drilling programmes, and the stated 2.0 Moz AuEq growth target provide investors with a series of milestones to monitor over the coming months.
AuEq (Gold-Equivalent): A method of expressing the combined value of multiple metals in a single gold-equivalent figure, using prevailing metal prices and metallurgical recovery assumptions to convert each metal into its gold-equivalent weight. This allows comparison across multi-metal deposits.
AgEq (Silver-Equivalent): The same concept applied with silver as the base unit, used for the silver-dominant deposits at Mt Carrington (Lady Hampden, Silver King, Lead Block, White Rock).
Indicated Resource: A JORC-classified resource category representing a higher level of geological confidence than Inferred, based on closer drill spacing and improved geological understanding. Can underpin economic studies.
Inferred Resource: The lowest JORC classification for a mineral resource, based on broader-spaced drilling and less geological continuity. Cannot be directly used to calculate Ore Reserves.
JORC Code: The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves — the industry standard for resource reporting in Australia.
Epithermal deposit: A type of mineral deposit formed near the Earth's surface at relatively low temperatures and pressures, typically associated with volcanic systems. Often hosts gold and silver mineralisation.
Ordinary Kriging: A geostatistical technique used to estimate grade values in a block model by accounting for the spatial relationships between sample data points.
Whittle optimisation: A software-based process for determining the optimal open-pit shell geometry for a given set of economic and technical parameters, including metal prices, mining costs, recoveries and slope angles.
*Key Takeaway: The Legacy Minerals Mt Carrington resource upgrade to 1.6 million ounces gold equivalent represents a meaningful repositioning of the project as one of Australia's larger undeveloped gold-silver systems. With an Indicated component up 69%, active drilling across multiple prospects, a stated 2.0 Moz AuEq growth target, and an optimised Scoping Study underway, investors have a defined set of catalysts to monitor in the months ahead.*
With a resource now standing at 1.6 million ounces of gold-equivalent, a 69% uplift in Indicated Resources, active drilling across multiple prospects, and an optimised Scoping Study underway, Legacy Minerals Holdings (ASX: LGM) is positioning Mt Carrington as one of Australia's more compelling undeveloped gold-silver development stories. Investors looking to explore the project's fundamentals, upcoming milestones, and the pathway toward a 2.0 Moz AuEq target in greater detail can visit the company's official website at www.legacyminerals.com.au.