Waratah Minerals Confirms 6km Gold Corridor at Spur Project

Waratah Minerals Confirms 6km Gold Corridor at Spur Project as District-Scale Potential Comes Into Focus

Waratah Minerals Limited (ASX: WTM) has reported new Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling results from the Alpine and Gazzards prospects at its Spur Gold and Copper Project in New South Wales. The update indicates that mineralisation now extends across a continuous 6-kilometre gold corridor. According to the ASX announcement, the results link Alpine and Gazzards in the north with the Spur and Consols prospects in the south, materially expanding the company's geological interpretation of the Cargo Intrusive Complex.

The announcement matters because early-stage gold discoveries are typically assessed on two core factors: grade and scale. Waratah's latest drilling has added fresh gold intercepts at shallow to moderate depths whilst also supporting the view that four previously distinct target areas may belong to one larger mineralised system.

From Separate Prospects to a Connected Mineralised Corridor

In the announcement, Waratah said assays have now been received for 19 RC holes, comprising 15 holes at Gazzards and four holes at Alpine. The drilling was planned using a combination of mapping, soil sampling, and ground geophysical interpretation.

Until this round of work, Spur and Consols had been the better-defined southern prospects within the project area. Alpine and Gazzards sat several kilometres to the north and were viewed more as additional targets than as clearly connected parts of the same system.

The new results have changed that interpretation. Waratah stated that the same broad geological features seen at Spur and Consols are also being identified at Alpine and Gazzards, including:

• Potassic alteration, which is a chemical change in the rock often associated with hot mineral-rich fluids
• Magnetite alteration, commonly linked to intrusive-related mineral systems
• Sericite alteration, a fine mica alteration that can develop around mineralised zones
• Albite alteration, another alteration style often seen in large hydrothermal systems

These alteration patterns, together with magnetic inversion data and geochemical results, are being used by the company to support the idea of a district-scale gold corridor rather than isolated mineralised pockets.

What Does the Managing Director Say?

"We are now seeing clear evidence that Alpine, Gazzards, Spur and Consols are not isolated zones, but part of a much larger, connected mineralised corridor," said Peter Duerden, Managing Director of Waratah Minerals.

"The consistency in geology, alteration and mineralisation across the district gives us growing confidence in the scale and continuity of the system."

For investors, this is a meaningful shift in project framing. A series of disconnected targets can still hold value. However, a continuous mineralised corridor over multiple kilometres generally suggests a broader exploration opportunity and a larger target inventory.

Drill Results Show Shallow and Deeper Gold at Alpine and Gazzards

The latest RC drilling produced several intercepts that stand out on grade and position. At Alpine, the strongest reported result came from ARC018, where the company reported:

• 10m @ 2.46 g/t Au from 76m
• including 7m @ 3.32 g/t Au from 77m
• including 5m @ 4.35 g/t Au from 79m

Waratah said this intercept sits approximately 70 metres below historic workings, suggesting gold mineralisation may continue beneath earlier shallow mining activity.

Other Alpine results reported in the announcement included:

• ARC017: 27m @ 0.35 g/t Au from surface
• including 4m @ 1.48 g/t Au from 23m
• and 3m @ 1.15 g/t Au from 49m

Gazzards Results: Key Intercepts

At Gazzards, the drilling outlined mineralisation over a reported 500-metre strike extent. Key results included the following:

The 3m @ 8.83 g/t Au interval in ARC009 is one of the more eye-catching results in the release. According to the company, it lies around 100 metres below surface workings, suggesting the system remains open at depth and may not be limited to near-surface mineralisation.

Several additional Gazzards holes returned broader lower-grade zones, including ARC012, ARC014 and ARC015, which the company said add to the overall mineralised footprint. Furthermore, assays remain pending for five Alpine holes: ARC019 and ARC021 to ARC024.

Why a Porphyry-Epithermal Setting Matters

Waratah describes the Spur Project as prospective for epithermal-porphyry gold and copper mineralisation. This is a technical phrase, but it is important because this style of mineral system can host very large deposits.

A simple way to think about it is this:

• A porphyry system forms around an intrusive body where metal-bearing fluids move through large rock volumes and deposit minerals such as gold and copper
• An epithermal system forms at shallower levels where those fluids cool and create veins, breccias, and higher-grade zones closer to surface

These systems can contain a mix of broad lower-grade mineralisation and narrower higher-grade zones. That combination is often important in exploration because isolated high-grade hits may eventually connect into a much larger mineralised system.

Key Terms Explained

RC drilling — A fast drilling method that uses compressed air to bring rock chips to surface for sampling.

g/t Au — Grams of gold per tonne of rock. This is the standard way of reporting gold grade.

Strike extent — The horizontal distance a mineralised zone extends along its main direction.

Pathfinder elements — Elements such as bismuth (Bi), tellurium (Te) and antimony (Sb) that often occur with gold and help geologists track mineral systems.

For investors following Australian gold exploration, deposit style matters because it shapes expectations around project size, drilling strategy, and potential development pathways. In that context, Waratah's interpretation places Spur in a geological model associated with some of the better-known gold-copper districts in New South Wales.

Soil Geochemistry and Geophysics Add Support to the District View

The drilling results were accompanied by a substantial regional soil programme. Waratah reported that it collected 1,076 soil samples across a 7km by 2.5km area around the Cargo Intrusive Complex.

According to the company, the results outline a classical geochemical zoning pattern:

• Core zone: elevated copper (Cu) and molybdenum (Mo)
• Proximal halo: enrichment in gold (Au), bismuth (Bi), tellurium (Te) and antimony (Sb)
• Distal zone: elevated manganese (Mn), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn)

This type of pattern is relevant because it is often associated with large intrusive-related mineral systems. In the announcement, Waratah said the Au-Bi-Te-Sb signature at Alpine and Gazzards mirrors the geochemical fingerprint already seen at Spur and Consols.

Ground geophysics has also been completed across the same regional area. The company reported ground magnetic surveys on 50-metre line spacing and 1,405 gravity stations on a 100m x 100m grid.

That gravity data is still being processed. Waratah said it expects the additional interpretation to refine drill targeting across the broader corridor. From an investor perspective, a consistent story across drilling, soil geochemistry, and geophysics generally improves confidence in a geological model.

Next Steps: Diamond Drilling and Pending Assays

Waratah has outlined a clear follow-up programme in the announcement. The next major step is diamond drilling, which is being planned and permitted.

Diamond drilling differs from RC drilling because it produces a continuous cylindrical core sample rather than rock chips. That gives geologists better visibility on exact rock types, vein orientations, structural controls, and the true geometry of mineralised zones.

This is particularly important at Gazzards, where Waratah said mineralisation in holes such as ARC009 may be linked to west-dipping structures interpreted from magnetic inversion work. The company plans to test this with west-to-east oriented diamond holes.

The stated timetable from the announcement is summarised below:

The pending Alpine assays are particularly relevant because only four of nine completed RC holes at Alpine have so far been reported. That means the current dataset may not yet reflect the full potential of the northern target area.

Why This Update Matters to Investors

The most important aspect of this announcement is not just the individual intercepts, although several are strong for an early-stage exploration programme. It is the apparent growth in project scale.

A 6-kilometre mineralised corridor in the East Lachlan region is material because scale tends to be one of the main valuation drivers for early exploration stories. Higher-grade intervals can attract attention, but sustained market interest is often built on the potential for a large mineralised footprint.

There are several reasons the market may focus on this release:

• Scale increased materially from a cluster of prospects to a corridor interpretation
• Shallow gold intercepts were reported at both Alpine and Gazzards
• High-grade internal zones were identified within broader mineralised intervals
• Independent support from soil geochemistry and geophysics aligns with the drill story
• Near-term news flow remains active, with pending assays and planned diamond drilling

It is important to note that Waratah explicitly states exploration results are not a Mineral Resource estimate. However, the release indicates that the company is building a larger and more coherent geological picture of the Spur Project.

Investor Takeaway

Waratah's latest drilling results suggest that Alpine, Gazzards, Spur and Consols may form part of one continuous 6km mineralised gold corridor. The combination of shallow gold intercepts, internal high-grade zones, matching geochemical signatures and planned diamond drilling gives the Spur Project a larger exploration profile than previously understood.

For investors focused on ASX gold exploration, the next points to watch are straightforward: the remaining Alpine assays, further results from Spur and Consols, and whether diamond drilling confirms the structural model now emerging across the corridor.

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