Delta Lithium has announced its decision to demerge its Mt Ida gold project into a separate entity, Ballard Mining, in a bid to maintain focus on its lithium assets.
The proposed demerger provides a solid foundation to further advance the Mt Ida project, located in the Eastern Goldfields Province of Western Australia, towards stand-alone production.
The move will allow Delta to focus its resources on lithium exploration and development at the Yinnetharra and Mt Ida projects, while still retaining a significant stake in Ballard Mining and continued involvement at the Mt Ida gold project.
“Now is the time for Delta to separate our commodities and crystallise the value we have created at Mt Ida,” Delta managing director James Croser said.
“Delta has been diligently progressing the Mt Ida gold asset for the past 12 months and our geology team has delivered a great result in increasing the gold resource to beyond 1Moz (million ounces), with genuine standalone scale.”
Delta has also upgraded its mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Mt Ida project with the inferred and indicated mineral resources reaching 10.3 million tonnes (Mt) at 3.33 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 1.1Moz at various cut-off grades.
The upgrade represents a 46 per cent increase in contained gold with a 38 per cent increase in the Baldock resource to 7Mt at 4.12g/t gold for 930,000 ounces (oz).
Maiden MREs has been completed across several key prospects, including Bombay which boasts 0.74Mt at 1.4g/t gold for 33,000oz, West Knell (0.42Mt at 2.9g/t gold for 40,000oz) and Jupiter (0.14Mt at 2.3g/t gold for 11,000oz), with the updated Kestrel MRE now standing at 53,000oz at 1.7g/t gold.
The Mt Ida project now hosts six gold resources, providing multiple potential mining fronts to support a proposed processing facility at Baldock.
Ballard Mining aims to list in mid-2025, subject to market conditions and meeting ASX listing requirements.
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