High-grade gold keeps pouring from Golden Pole, as Ora Banda ramps up Waihi’s underground potential.
Targeted follow-up drilling has expanded the mineralised envelope, returning thick, high-grade intercepts, including 7 m at 27.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, highlighting the mine’s promise.
“These outstanding results continue to support the case for Waihi to become Ora Banda’s third underground mine, with drilling across the Waihi package delivering strong grades, excellent widths, and the potential for further extensions of the mineralised system, all within a short distance of the Davyhurst processing plant,” Ora Banda Mining managing director Luke Creagh said.
A newly identified lode west of Golden Pole adds further excitement, opening another zone for exploration at Waihi. Drilling beneath historical workings has also highlighted significant down-plunge extensions, including 9 m at 4.8 g/t, confirming the potential for depth continuity and building on earlier findings that historical mining only tapped a small portion of the broader system.
The strong results have prompted Ora Banda to plan an additional 20 drill holes focused on infill and extensional drilling, complementing the broader Waihi program, which has grown from an initial 45 holes to nearly 100.
Across the wider Waihi project, encouraging results continue, including high-grade intersections at Waihi East and Homeward Bound, while the first intercept of the new western lode further reinforces the area’s prospectivity.
An updated mineral resource estimate, incorporating the Golden Pole lode for the first time, is scheduled for early in the June 2026 quarter, marking a key milestone for the project’s underground development.
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