Venus Metals fires up drill rig to boost Sandstone gold project resource
- James Pearson
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
As gold prices continue to boom, Venus Metals (ASX: VMC) has re-fired the drill rigs to kick off a fresh reverse circulation drilling campaign at its Bellchambers gold project in Western Australia.
The new 2000-metre campaign is set to punch out up to 18 holes at an average depth of 100m.
The company will use a combination of infill and extensional drilling to upgrade the current indicated resources to the measured category - a key move in de-risking the project for development. It will also chase down extensions in the hunt for new gold shoots around the tenement.
Sitting 23 kilometres southwest of the historic mining town of Sandstone and about 70km from Rox Resources’ (ASX: RXL) Youanmi gold mine, Bellchambers already hosts a solid JORC compliant resource of 722,000 tonnes of ore grading 1.31 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 30,500 ounces. The inventory includes 22,100 ounces in the indicated category and a further 8400 inferred ounces.
Bottle-roll testing on samples from a previous drilling program has delivered impressive gold recovery rates up to 92 per cent in oxide material, 95.6 per cent in transitional zones and as high as 90.1 per cent in fresh rock.
In a strong sign of confidence, the company has lodged a mining lease application over Bellchambers and its outlying extensional targets, setting the stage for a potential fast-tracked mining operation.
Discussions are ongoing for a possible “mine gate” sale agreement with Rox, which recently consolidated its interest in the Youanmi project ahead of its own funding talks. Should Rox move to a final investment decision to develop a standalone mine later in the year, it would provide a clear pathway to monetisation for Venus.
Meanwhile, Venus has plenty of targets to keep the drills busy. Just a kilometre northeast of Bellchambers is the Range View prospect, which has already coughed up some juicy results. Historical hits include 11m at 4.69g/t gold from just 12m depth, with a standout 1m running 38.92g/t and 8m at 1.22g/t from 30m, including a 1m shot at 4.48g/t.
With cash and liquid investments of $21.6M under its belt – almost matching its $21.5M market cap - Venus appears well-funded to push Bellchambers toward development.
As the assays start flowing in, punters will be watching closely to see if Venus’ latest drilling program can unlock a bigger prize hiding in the shadows of Bellchambers and turn the company into a golden growth story.
The drill program is expected to wrap up within two weeks, with assays likely to follow a month later. Venus plans to roll the results into an updated resource estimate, alongside further metallurgical test work to fine-tune processing options.
Venus already has considerable exposure to WA’s exploration scene, with a portfolio spanning gold, copper, lithium and vanadium.
Added to that basket, the company owns 55 million Rox shares, which are currently worth $19.8M, and has a handy 1 per cent royalty over the Youanmi gold mine. The royalty was independently valued at $9.5M last year, when the gold price was 40 per cent lower than today’s value.
With cash and liquid investments of $21.6M under its belt – almost matching its $21.5M market cap - Venus appears well-funded to push Bellchambers toward development.
As the assays start flowing in, punters will be watching closely to see if Venus’ latest drilling program can unlock a bigger prize hiding in the shadows of Bellchambers and turn the company into a golden growth story.
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