Gold continues to shine at Mt Ida, where Ballard Mining has uncovered multiple mineralised zones beyond its flagship Baldock deposit in Western Australia’s Goldfields.
At the Pluto prospect, 6km north of Baldock, early drilling highlighted a substantial mineralised zone.
“Similar to Neptune, the Pluto and Astro-Quasar prospects were drill tested due to the presence of historical underground workings,” Ballard Mining managing director Paul Brennan said. “We have 53 identified regional exploration prospects outside of Baldock which we will systematically work through over the course of 2026.”
Further north, the Astro-Quasar trend was confirmed over nearly a kilometre, reinforcing the potential for multiple gold zones in the area.
“It has become evident that there are multiple parallel zones of mineralisation along both the Ballard Fault and the Baldock Thrust shear zones,” Brennan said.
“This is a very fertile system and these early drill results are comparable to the initial exploration results received at Baldock which has subsequently grown from 141,000 ounces to a 930,000 ounces resource.
“The Phase 1 regional exploration program has been very successful to date, with ongoing drilling indicating substantial gold mineralisation at identified prospects.”
With infill drilling at Baldock nearing completion, Ballard will shift its focus in 2026 to resource growth.
“Looking ahead to the 2026 calendar year our focus will shift entirely to adding resources to support our targeted 8-10 year mine plan,” Brennan said.
“We expect this to come from a combination of extensional drilling at Baldock and exploration success from the regional prospects.”
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